Sanctioned but defiant ICC head says Japan must counter US efforts to weaken court

TOKYO, Japan — Japan should try to counter US efforts to pressure members of the International Criminal Court to quit the body, the Japanese president of the court said on Wednesday, adding that she wouldn’t back down under the pressure of Washington’s sanctions.

The Trump administration ratcheted up its campaign against the Hague-based court last week by sanctioning its president, Tomoko Akane, and a senior trial lawyer. Washington has said it will also step up efforts to persuade other countries to quit the institution, a call that at least five countries have already heeded.

The ICC was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The US is not a member, but it has slammed the court’s decision to seek an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close US ally, and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza. It also opposes a past probe into US troops in Afghanistan.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has gotten US President Donald Trump’s praise, initially described the effort from its US ally as “very unfortunate.” But she has faced criticism from the opposition, human rights groups and some lawmakers from her own party for not defending the court more forcibly.

Speaking via a video link to reporters in Tokyo, Akane called on Japan, the court’s biggest financial backer, to help it in its hour of need.

‘High expectations for Japan’

“Japan has long made the rule of law a cornerstone of its diplomacy. Consequently, both I and the international community hold high expectations for Japan,” she said.

“Furthermore, I would like Japan to focus on supporting neighboring countries that are ICC members, ensuring that they do not succumb to the new US campaign and decide to withdraw from the ICC,” she added.

Despite the US sanctions against her, Akane said she felt more invigorated than ever, and vowed that “even if sanctions against the ICC itself are added, we won’t give up.”

“A permanent body like the ICC must never be shut down. We must not let it be shut down. We will resist with all our might,” she said.

The ICC president said she wanted to follow the example set by “judges in the past who were similarly sanctioned” but who “never lost passion for their jobs or complained they wanted to quit.”

Akane said Japan, which joined the ICC in 2007, should leverage its close ties with the United States to dissuade Washington from taking further escalatory measures.

“Countries, people and media are saying this is a litmus test for their expectations of Japan… Japan’s strong support for the ICC here will greatly contribute to its future survival,” she said.

“This is where the real challenge begins.”

The sanctions come weeks after ICC member states voted to dismiss prosecutor Karim Khan, who spearheaded the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, following allegations that he sexually assaulted a female member of his staff.

His dismissal does not affect the charges they face. But Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has asserted that the arrest warrants by Khan were “an attempt to deflect from the serious misconduct he feared would be revealed.”

Israel rejects the accusations of war crimes against Netanyahu and Gallant over the war in Gaza that was sparked by the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in southern Israel. Jerusalem also similarly rejects accusations of genocide in the war.