UK lobbying US against sanctioning ICC over Israel war crimes probe

The British government is lobbying the US against sanctioning the International Criminal Court - having so far successfully lobbied the Trump administration not to sanction UK nationals involved in the court's issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, Middle East Eye can reveal.

The US has already imposed sanctions on the court's British chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, and four of its judges, but sanctioning the court itself could deal a fatal blow to its ability to function.

This comes after MEE reported earlier this month that the Labour government believed the US could sanction prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and other UK nationals over their roles advising Khan on arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

Numerous sources in the British government told MEE on Monday that the Labour government successfully lobbied the Trump administration not to sanction the UK nationals.

However, British officials fear more US sanctions are likely to come.

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Clooney and other British lawyers, including former ICC judge Lord Justice Adrian Fulford and Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, had served early last year on an independent panel of legal advisers convened by the ICC prosecutor. 

The panel expressed their support for Khan’s decision to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

ICC judges granted Khan's application in November, and in February this year the Trump administration imposed financial and visa sanctions on Khan.

In early June the US imposed further sanctions on four ICC judges - from Benin, Peru, Slovenia and Uganda - whom it accused of being involved in “illegitimate actions targeting the United States and Israel”.

Neither the US nor Israel are parties to the Rome Statute and have long rejected the authority of the court.

A list of demands

British government sources told MEE the UK is now aiming to persuade the US not to place sanctions on the institution of the ICC itself.

MEE understands that earlier this month the US informed its allies that to avoid facing further sanctions, the court has to permanently close all actions against the US and Israel.

The court has previously investigated alleged war crimes committed by American forces based in Afghanistan, which is a signatory to the Rome Statute.  

The US also said the ICC must commit to not targeting US nationals and US allies who have not consented to the court's jurisdiction.

The British Foreign Office declined to comment. 

Khan, the ICC prosecutor, has had his American visa revoked and his wife and children have been banned from travelling to the US. His bank accounts have been frozen in the UK.

If the US sanctions the court as an institution, this would prevent banks and software companies from dealing with it, which could destroy the ICC's ability to function. 

Cameron threatening ICC

The Labour government's current approach represents a dramatic shift from that of the previous Conservative government.

Last week MEE revealed that in April 2024 David Cameron, then the Conservative foreign secretary, threatened in a phone call with Khan that the UK would defund and withdraw from the ICC if it issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

The British Foreign Office and Khan both declined to comment in response to the report, while Cameron did not respond to multiple requests by MEE for comment.

On 10 June 2024 the Conservative government filed an objection to Khan’s application to the ICC, arguing that the court did not have jurisdiction over Israeli nationals - a position the Israeli government has held for years.

The next month, however, Keir Starmer’s newly elected Labour government announced it would drop the objection. 

“We’re very clear about the importance of the rule of law and the independence of the court both domestically and internationally,” a spokesperson for Starmer said at the time.

Palestine was accepted into the ICC in 2015, and in 2021 the court said it had the power to investigate war crimes in the occupied territories.

Prosecutor on leave

Khan is currently on leave after attempts to suspend him failed, and pending a UN investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct towards a colleague.

He denies the allegations, which have not been referred to Dutch police.

'These measures are a clear attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution'

 - International Criminal Court

The warrants for Israeli leaders are currently in the hands of two deputy prosecutors.

In a statement, the ICC said it deplored the sanctions against Khan and the four judges. It said it stood fully behind its personnel and would continue its work undeterred.

“These measures are a clear attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution which operates under the mandate from 125 States Parties from all corners of the globe,” it said.

The court recently ordered that any further warrants issued in relation to its Palestine investigation cannot be publicised.

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