Berlin, 14 July 2026. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a campaign to dismantle the International Criminal Court (ICC). The campaign is not only directed against ICC staff members, but also against states cooperating with the Court. It is therefore all the more important that States Parties do not allow themselves to be intimidated and provide the ICC with determined support.
“When Marco Rubio announces that he intends to dismantle the International Criminal Court ‘brick by brick, we must defend international law ‘brick by brick,” says Andreas Schüller, Co-Director of the ECCHR’s International Crimes and Accountability Program. “Against authoritarian power politics, only international cooperation, political courage and the integrity of the rule of law can prevail.”
Since taking office, Donald Trump has increasingly put pressure on the ICC by imposing sanctions against the Prosecutor, both Deputy Prosecutors, and eight ICC judges. The US administration has also imposed sanctions against UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese as well as against three leading Palestinian human rights organisations: the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Al-Haq and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, with which the ECCHR works closely.
This escalation follows a worrying pattern of politically motivated attacks on the international legal order and the independence of the judiciary. It aims to obstruct investigations into US allies or US nationals and thereby prevent accountability for potential international crimes. Those who suffer as a result are the victims and survivors of international crimes, as well as those working worldwide under increasingly difficult conditions to pursue justice and combat impunity.
The ICC acts when national justice systems are unwilling or unable to prosecute the gravest international crimes. This is precisely why it repeatedly comes into conflict with powerful states and political interests. Protecting its independence is a shared responsibility of the States Parties.
The same applies to the German government: As a State Party to the Rome Statute, Germany must now stand firmly behind the ICC and must not allow itself to be coerced. This also includes adopting national and regional blocking regulations that prohibit compliance with US sanctions and thereby protect companies and individuals from their effects.
Those targeted by the sanctions regime continue their work undeterred despite the personal and institutional risks they face. In doing so, they defend not only the independence of international criminal justice, but also the rights of those affected by international crimes – in the pursuit of justice, against state violence, and in defence of international law.
