Arabic version: أستراليا تدعم موظفي المحكمة الجنائية الدولية الذين يواجهون عقوبات أميركية

According to ABC News, Australia and other countries are providing support to International Criminal Court staff as the Trump administration imposes successive sanctions on the court. ICC deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the assistance had come publicly and through “quiet diplomacy behind closed doors”.

Khan, who has been personally sanctioned by the United States, is visiting Canberra and Brisbane for talks with jurists and officials from Australia and the Pacific. She said states needed to support multilateral institutions under pressure and that the ICC was working to shield staff from financial consequences while maintaining its work for victims.

The latest US measures, announced on October 9, are aimed at the ICC as an institution and include a 180-day grace period before full implementation. They would freeze the court’s US assets and block financial transactions and IT agreements involving US companies. Khan said the consequences remained difficult to predict because institutions could over-comply, potentially affecting staff access to banking and other services.

Australia faced criticism from international lawyers over the timing of its support for a statement condemning the sanctions. However, Khan praised Canberra’s public backing and said Australian officials in the Netherlands had provided visible assistance to Australians working at the court, including efforts to preserve access to banking and financial services. She also highlighted the court’s relevance to the Pacific, citing a 2024 Vanuatu proposal, co-sponsored by Fiji and Samoa, to recognise ecocide as an independent international crime.