THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Judges and prosecutors at the International Criminal Court are trying to live and work under the same U.S.financial and travel restrictions brought against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Osama bin Laden.
Nine staff members, including six judges and the ICC's chief prosecutor, have been sanctioned by U.S.President Donald Trump for pursuing investigations into officials from the U.S.
and Israel, which aren't among The Hague court's 125 member states.Typically reserved for autocrats, crime bosses and the like, the sanctions can be devastating.
They prevent the ICC officials and their families from entering the United States, block their access to even basic financial services and extend to the minutiae of their everyday lives.The court's top prosecutor, British national Karim Khan, had his bank accounts closed and his U.S.visa revoked, and Microsoft even canceled his ICC email address.
Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, who was named in the latest round of sanctions in August, immediately lost access to her credit cards, and Amazon's Alexa stopped responding to her.“Your whole world is restricted,” Prost told The Associated Press last week.Prost had an inkling of what would happen when she made the list.Before joining the ICC in 2017, she worked on sanctions for the U.N.
Security Council.She was targeted by the Trump administration for voting to allow the court’s investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan, including by American troops and intelligence operatives.“I’ve worked all my life in criminal justice, and now I’m on a list with those implicated in terrorism and organized crime,” she said.The sanctions have taken their toll on the court’s work across a broad array of investigations at a time when the institution is juggling ever more demands on its resources and a leadership crisis centered on Khan.
Earlier this year, he stepped aside pending the outcome of an investi...