How do the sanctions imposed by the United States against the ICC work?
  • Colombia
A tale of one crime and two different justice systems
By Andrés Bermúdez Liévano
The case of former congressman Géchem Turbay helps understand the differences and complementarity between a kidnapping tried in Colombia’s ordinary courts and within the transitional justice system.
Jorge Eduardo Gechem, who was kidnapped by the FARC, was released six years later. Image (video still): footage from a Venezuelan TV channel showing Gechem upon his release in the Colombian jungle.
Beti Hohler, juge à la Cour pénale internationale (CPI), subit les sanctions imposées par le gouvernement américain. “Living with US sanctions means living in constant uncertainty”
By Janet H. Anderson
A total of 11 judges and prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have been sanctioned by the US government. Some have come public about how it's deeply affected their daily life. And it’s unclear what protection they may enjoy.
Syrian Yazidis march carrying photos and banners during a demonstration in Syria. Life sentence for a French jihadist
By AFP
After a five-day trial, the Paris Assize Court found Sabri Essid, a member of the Islamic State, guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, and complicity in crimes against the Yazidis.
The US sanctions against the ICC and Palestinian NGOs have the effect of isolating the latter, as many organisations and businesses, both in Palestine and elsewhere, are reluctant to work with them. “We are like outcasts”
By Margherita Capacci
In September 2025, three prominent Palestinian human rights organizations were put on the sanctions list by the U.S. administration for their relationship with the International Criminal Court. They tell us about the additional hardship.
Donald Trump is hosting a dinner at the White House to which American tech leaders have been invited (including Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates), with First Lady Melania Trump in attendance. How sanctions can weaponize US tech against the ICC
By Tjitske Lingsma
The International Criminal Court depends significantly on American IT companies for its daily functions and operations. The sanctions against its staff serve as a strong wake-up call that such measures can weaponize US tech against the Court.
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“Ukraine has done itself and international law a service”
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Life under sanctions Special focus 6 publications
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“Living with US sanctions means living in constant uncertainty” A total of 11 judges and prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have been sanctioned by the US government. Some have come public about how it's deeply affected their daily life. And it’s unclear what protection they may enjoy.
“We are like outcasts”
How sanctions can weaponize US tech against the ICC
All our special focus
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Illustration showing a concrete mixer truck (with the Lafarge logo printed on it) stopped at a checkpoint manned by several figures dressed in black, armed and wearing balaclavas. A long arm extends from the truck, holding a suitcase filled with banknotes bearing the image of Bashar al-Assad. On the side is an ISIS flag. War and business: Lafarge in the dock
14 publications
At the Lundin trial in Sweden, two former executives of the oil company are on trial for alleged complicity in war crimes committed in Sudan. Illustration: Ian Lundin and Alexandre Schneiter are drowned in a pool of oil. Conflict rages in the background. War and oil: Lundin in the dock
21 publications
Fighting gender-based crimes - Illustration: a crime scene (police banner and numbered exhibits) where the silhouette of a character marked on the ground is filled in with the colors of the LGBTQ+ community's rainbow flag. The Fight Against Gender Crimes
9 publications
What justice for enforced disappearances around the world? © Marina Margarina / Justice Info The disappeared who will never be forgotten
25 publications
Félicien Kabuga, in a wheelchair, seems to be running away from a huge blood-red Félicien Kabuga, the last judgment
16 publications
Illustration mettant en scène des hommes et femmes d'affaire flottant sur un océan déchaîné. Certains semblent confiants et d'autres paniquent. Au fond, un radeau flotte transportant un magistrat en robe (mat symolisant la balance de la justice). Corporations face the rising tide of justice
49 publications
Religious people (in small format) are lined up to confess in turn to the ear of a church member (in large format) who hides one eye while listening with one ear. The Church and its sexual crimes
18 publications
Colonial crimes: a chess game to negotiate reparations, restitution, truth and the duty to remember Hour of reckoning for colonial crimes
49 publications
Massaquoi trial in Liberia The Massaquoi Affair: the Finnish model put to the test
21 publications
ICC's Trust Fund for Victims (TFV): a failure The failure of the ICC Victims Fund
7 publications
ICC desperately seeking prosecutor
7 publications
Transitional Justice: The great Colombian challenge
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Time for the truth in Gambia
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Rwanda, 25 years after the genocide
8 publications
Portrait (drawing) of Frédéric Mégret (lawyer specialising in international law), who answers questions from Justice Info on Ukraine, the United States and international law more broadly.
“Ukraine has done itself and international law a service”
23 February 2026 by Franck Petit
After four years of war in Ukraine and a year since Donald Trump returned to power, international law seems more threatened than ever, and its role in peace negotiations is being challenged. But the example of Ukraine, which is establishing a “regional” tribunal for the crime of aggression created by the Council of Europe, shows us “a space for the extension and survival of international law even at the worst moment of its crisis,” according to Frédéric Mégret.
Justice for Syria: what are the various initiatives for justice for Syria around the world, at the national level (in Syria or elsewhere, under universal jurisdiction) or at the international level (via the ICJ and UN bodies)? Image: world map with a photo of Sednaya prison (Syria) seen from the air and a portrait of Bashar al-Assad superimposed on it.
Justice for Syria: who is doing what?
8 December 2025 by Hannah El-Hitami
One year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, on 7 December 2024, the landscape of justice for grave violations of international law in Syria has transformed. Some transitional justice institutions have been established in Syria. And there have never been so many active Syrian cases under universal jurisdiction. 
Justice for Gaza: what are the various initiatives for justice for Gaza around the world, at the national and international levels (via the ICC, the ICJ, and the UN)? Image: world map with a photo of a completely destroyed street in Gaza, seen from the sky, superimposed on it.
Justice for Gaza: who is doing what?
4 November 2025 by Golnouche K. Barzegar
It’s a battle outside the battlefield, and it is worrying the State of Israel: in January 2025, the Israeli army warned its soldiers about possible arrests when they travel abroad. Since the start of the offensive in Gaza launched after the attack on October 7, 2023, two international courts have been seized: the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants, and the International Court of Justice, whose decisions have been supported by resolutions of the UN General Assembly. At the same time, the Human Rights Council has set up a commission, which has concluded that a “genocide” is taking place. Finally, complaints have been filed in dozens of national courts, and universal jurisdiction proceedings have been opened around the world.
In the footsteps of Roger Lumbala, on trial in France for crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Photo: Path under the trees in the heart of the equatorial forest in Ituri. People walk or ride motorcycles in a mystical, luminous atmosphere.
“Wiping the slate meant erasing everything: our property, our people”
14 November 2025 by Claude Sengenya
In Mambasa, deep in Democratic Republic of Congo equatorial forest, we trace crimes that are being tried 6,000 kilometres away in Paris, in Roger Lumbala’s trial that opened on November 12.
Syria
13 March 2026
The genocide of Yazidis on trial before French court
Palestine
27 October 2025
Gaza: when will the “lords of war” face criminal trial?
Philippines
2 March 2026
Targeted charges against Duterte at the ICC
Dem. Rep. Of Congo
19 January 2026
Universal Jurisdiction as Justice: the Lumbala trial in question
Colombia
6 January 2026
Colonel Mejía’s conviction and the countdown for transitional justice
Central African Republic
1 August 2025
CAR’s Special Court wants to live on

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International justice news, according to AFP

25 March 2026 UN designates African slave trade as 'gravest crime against humanity' 25 March 2026 Major figure in Guinea 2009 massacre dies in prison 25 March 2026 Middle East war: global economic fallout 25 March 2026 UN names African slave trade 'gravest crime against humanity' 25 March 2026 Oil prices slip, stocks rally on Mideast peace hopes 25 March 2026 Commerce body chief warns of 'worst industrial crisis in living memory' 25 March 2026 ICC warns of 'worst industrial crisis in living memory' 25 March 2026 EU seeks leading role in Ukraine special tribunal 25 March 2026 'No heavier burden': the decades-long search for Kosovo war missing 25 March 2026 Iran fires missile salvo after Trump signals progress in talks
+ All AFP dispatches