The Trump administration is launching an effort to dismantle what it calls the threat to United States sovereignty by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a State Department official said on Monday.
President Donald Trump and other US officials, such as former President George W. Bush, have long said the ICC should not have the authority to investigate and prosecute Americans, particularly members of the military.
Reuters earlier this year found the Trump administration backed sanctions against ICC officials in part to head off any future attempts to hold him or his officials accountable for US military action overseas.
The State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a wide range of options is under consideration to target the ICC, including travel bans, visa revocations, increased sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organisations, and diplomatic pressure on other nations to withdraw from the ICC.
The ICC was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. It asserts jurisdiction only if a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities itself. The US has never been a member of the court.
