Is the ICC being used as a testing ground by the United States

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  • Kosovo
Kosovo seeks to end the KSC’s “legal autonomous regime”
By Serbeze Haxhiaj
Amid public anger over the war-crimes convictions of three Kosovo guerilla leaders, Kosovo’s parliament amended last week the Specialist Chambers founding law, aiming to limit its mandate.
In Kosovo, four former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), convicted in The Hague of war crimes, are honoured on a banner displayed in the street in Pristina. Photo: a banner showing the faces of the four ‘war heroes’ and ‘peacemakers’ is hung on the front of a building.
An in-depth interview with Julian Fernandez on the sanctions imposed by the United States against the International Criminal Court (ICC). Illustration: a portrait of Fernandez (watercolour) by Benoît Peyrucq, for Justice Info. ICC: “For the US, this is a testing ground for other levers of influence”
By Franck Petit
October 9, 2026, will go down as a key date marking a global divide, with on one hand the Nobel Peace Prize and on the other hand, US sanctions against the ICC – which “it would be wrong to think concerns only international justice”, says Julian Fernandez.
Navi Pillay (an experienced lawyer specialising in international law) receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Nuremberg. Photo: Pillay delivers a speech to the press at the Nuremberg Courthouse. “The Nobel Committee has paid the tribute it owed to international law”
By Franck Petit
In the wake of a “crazy day” for international justice – the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to one of its iconic figures, followed by US sanctions against the International Criminal Court – French legal scholar Alain Pellet analyses the Nobel Committee’s choice.
Navi Pillay, wearing glasses, a grey jacket and a UN badge on a lanyard, smiles behind a microphone at a press conference. Behind her is the large white United Nations emblem on a blue background, with “United Nations Geneva” written in several languages. South African judge Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize
By AFP
"Peace requires justice”, said the chair of the Nobel Committee in Oslo while announcing the 2026 Peace Prize. The 85 years old South African judge, former UN human rights chief and International Court of Justice judge Navanethem "Navi" Pillay has won the Nobel for her contributions to international law, the jury announced on Friday October 9, 2026.
The US hits the ICC with sweeping sanctions
By AFP
"The United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC, piece by piece, until Americans are threatened no longer,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio while announcing the new sanctions on Friday October 9, after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navi Pillay, a former judge at the ICC and other international courts.
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Special report: ‘Life under sanctions’ (imposed by the US) for staff at the International Criminal Court and NGOs working with the ICC. Illustration: a colourful drawing showing a judge swimming underwater, surrounded by jellyfish. Papers bearing the ICC logo are also submerged. Life under sanctions
10 publications
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
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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
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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
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What justice for enforced disappearances around the world? © Marina Margarina / Justice Info The disappeared who will never be forgotten
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Félicien Kabuga, in a wheelchair, seems to be running away from a huge blood-red Félicien Kabuga, the last judgment
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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
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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
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Colonial crimes: a chess game to negotiate reparations, restitution, truth and the duty to remember Hour of reckoning for colonial crimes
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Massaquoi trial in Liberia The Massaquoi Affair: the Finnish model put to the test
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ICC's Trust Fund for Victims (TFV): a failure The failure of the ICC Victims Fund
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ICC desperately seeking prosecutor
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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
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Richard Rogers, a human rights lawyer, answers questions from Thierry Cruvellier (Justice Info) regarding the sanctions imposed by the US government on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and various NGOs. Illustration: portrait of Richard Rogers (watercolour).
“What has changed is who the U.S. consider to be friends or foe”
17 March 2026 by Thierry Cruvellier
The International Criminal Court is undermined by its internal dysfunctions, crises, and contradictions. It is sometimes weakened by its own member states. But the fatal weapon that seems to threaten its very existence is the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government. What are they? What impact have they already had on the institution, its judges and prosecutors, and the NGOs that have worked with it? How has a tool used by human rights activists turned against them? To kick off this special focus, British lawyer Richard Rogers explains the origins and workings of the main sanction’s regime in the field of human rights.
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 Ukraine, the Chernobyl nuclear power station was attacked and damaged by a Russian drone strike. An overview of the situation and a focus on international law in such circumstances. Photo: our correspondent in Ukraine poses, wearing safety gear, beneath the concrete arch.
Inside Chernobyl after a drone attack: what can international law do?
26 June 2026 by Oksana Rekun
On February 14, 2025, a Russian drone struck Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, near the fourth reactor destroyed in 1986. What’s nuclear safety in wartime? Journalist Oksana Rekun went to Chernobyl and asked.
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18 May 2026
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25 August 2026
Kasai: FONAREV under fire
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15 September 2026
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International justice news, according to AFP

14 October 2026 Trial defence says Russia used Nord Stream pipelines as 'weapon' 14 October 2026 Nobel winner Pillay blasts 'unlawful' Trump ICC sanctions: AFP interview 14 October 2026 Ukraine ex-military officer stands trial over Nord Stream sabotage 14 October 2026 Ukraine ex-military officer to stand trial over Nord Stream sabotage 13 October 2026 Colombia peace court indicts ex-FARC members over anti-Indigenous crimes 13 October 2026 Suspected Russian drones hit two ships off Bulgaria, 11 missing 13 October 2026 11 missing after ships struck off Bulgaria in latest Black Sea attack 12 October 2026 CORRECTED: Saudi says resilience tested, vows response after deadly airport attacks 12 October 2026 Saudi says resilience tested, vows response after deadly airport attacks 12 October 2026 Saudi energy minister says attacks testing infrastructure, vows response
+ All AFP dispatches