US Sanctions Force ICC Prosecutor to Attend UNSC Meeting Remotely

An International Criminal Court prosecutor has had to attend a meeting of the UN Security Council remotely as she has been designated as a target of US sanctions. Last year, the US administration of President Donald Trump sanctioned ICC prosecutors and judges, following what it said were transgressions such as issuing arrest warrants for people including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan was invited to a UN Security Council meeting on Sudan held at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday. She attended online, as she was not granted a visa. Khan reiterated her call "for all efforts to frustrate our work through sanctions or arrest warrants against ICC officials to cease." US Ambassador to the United Nations Jeff Bartos reacted by saying, "We will not tolerate a court that seeks to undermine US sovereignty." After the meeting, nine Security Council members, including France and Denmark, held a joint news conference and issued a statement expressing regret that Khan was unable to brief the council in person. The statement also said, "We reaffirm our steadfast and unwavering support for the court as an independent and impartial judicial institution." The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, is headed by Judge Akane Tomoko of Japan. Both the United States and Israel are not members of the court.