20 hours ago
9
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the four judges were responsible for investigations of U.S. military personnel and arrest warrants against top Israeli officials.
June 5, 2025Updated 6:19 p.m. ET
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday that the United States would impose sanctions on four judges on the International Criminal Court as retaliation for its investigations of U.S. military personnel and arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr. Rubio said in a statement that the sanctions would target four judges responsible for actions against the United States and Israel: Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.
The move follows similar sanctions imposed in February, when the U.S. government penalized Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the court. Mr. Khan had brought a case against Israel over its war in Gaza, and the sanctions have hobbled the work of his team.
The United States and Israel are not members of the court and have long chafed at its efforts to prosecute officials in their governments or militaries. During the first Trump administration, Mike Pompeo, then the secretary of state, announced sanctions against court officials, including the chief prosecutor, for bringing war crimes charges against U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
The State Department said that Ms. Bossa and Ms. Ibáñez Carranza had ruled to authorize the court’s investigation against U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. While they participated in an appeals decision that opened the way for that investigation, the court’s pursuit of the American role in Afghanistan was eventually dropped. Mr. Khan announced soon after taking office in 2021 that he would not pursue accusations of torture carried out by U.S. military and C.I.A. personnel in Afghanistan and at so-called black sites in other countries. No formal investigations of specific U.S. personnel have taken place, nor have warrants been issued.
The State Department also said that Ms. Alapini Gansou and Ms. Hohler had ruled to authorize arrest warrants targeting Mr. Netanyahu and the former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant.
