Trump slaps sanctions on Canadian ICC judge in clash over US and Israel investigations

The Trump administration escalated its campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday(August 20), imposing sanctions on four officials, including a Canadian judge, over their roles in investigations targeting US personnel and Israeli leaders.

The State Department said the measures freeze assets held in US jurisdictions and restrict financial transactions, the latest step under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February that authorizes penalties against ICC officials deemed to threaten American sovereignty.

Canadian judge among those targeted

Among the sanctioned officials is Kimberly Prost, a Canadian national who has served on the ICC’s Trial Division since 2018. According to the State Department, she was targeted for her ruling authorizing the court’s investigation into alleged war crimes committed by US personnel in Afghanistan.

Prost, a veteran jurist, previously worked as the United Nations Security Council’s first Ombudsperson for its Al Qaida Sanctions Committee and spent nearly two decades with Canada’s Department of Justice.

Also sanctioned were French judge Nicolas Yann Guillou, who was part of the panel that issued arrest warrants last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Deputy Prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, who upheld the Gaza-related warrants.

Renewed offense against the ICC

The decision reflects the administration’s intensifying pushback against the ICC. Neither the US nor Israel is a member of the tribunal, and Washington argues the court has no authority over its nationals.

“The United States has been clear and steadfast in our opposition to the ICC’s politicization, abuse of power, disregard for our national sovereignty, and illegitimate judicial overreach,” the State Department said in a statement.

The administration has framed the sanctions as necessary to protect American service members and diplomats, as well as Israel, from what it considers politically motivated prosecutions.

Echoes of Trump’s first term

The move mirrors the Trump administration’s first-term clash with the court, when sanctions were imposed on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and another senior official during probes into Afghanistan and Israel. Those measures were lifted by President Joe Biden in 2021, though his administration maintained opposition to ICC jurisdiction over non-member states.

But Trump, who returned to office this year, has revived the hardline approach. The latest designations follow earlier sanctions in June against four other ICC judges.

ICC and global response

The ICC condemned the decision, calling it a direct assault on judicial independence.

Israel welcomed the US decision. Netanyahu, facing the court’s arrest warrant, praised the sanctions.

Meanwhile, rights groups warned that the measures could hinder global accountability efforts.

Domestic challenge

The administration’s aggressive stance is also facing domestic challenges. A federal judge in Washington blocked parts of Trump’s executive order on constitutional grounds, ruling that restrictions on providing services to ICC officials infringed on free speech protections.