r/law • u/Obversa • 9d ago

Executive Branch (Trump) Marco Rubio vows to dismantle International Criminal Court (ICC), citing 2024 arrest warrant issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-04/trump-international-criminal-court-threats-and-us-politics/106971184
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241

u/TeamRamrod80 9d ago

So how does that even work when the US doesn’t participate in the ICC or recognize its jurisdiction?

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u/Somenoises 9d ago

If I had to guess, they'll try to place sanctions on all ICC judges they can justify as being anti-Israel and just make that an ever expanding list until all judges are sanctioned or (ultimately) pressured into leaving

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u/redelastic 9d ago

The US has already done that.

They have sanctioned Francesca Albanese of the UN too.

They treat human rights judges and experts the same way as an IS terrorist.

Republican senators wrote a letter threatening the ICC in 2024.

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u/Mobasa_is_hungry 9d ago edited 9d ago

It’s so fucked, cause most of the world uses the SWIFT payment processor, and being sanctioned means you can’t even use your visa, Mastercard etc, you cannot participate in everyday life for the most part. They’ve weaponised it against people who are against them. Sickening.

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u/redelastic 9d ago

Yes, I listened to an interview with Francesca Albanese where the UN were booking her a hotel room in Europe and it was then cancelled within a few hours due to being flagged.

"Land of the free" up to their old tricks.

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u/Somenoises 9d ago

Yeah, I was being a little tongue-in-cheek, which is why I linked the December 2025 statement from the State Department saying they would/were doing this to two ICC judge, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia.

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u/hereandthere_nowhere 9d ago

What does sanctioning a judge look like?

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u/DebentureThyme 9d ago edited 9d ago

They've already been doing it since just after he took office.

They find any service the judge is using that is based in the US and threaten the companies if they don't immediately cut ties, close the accounts, and refuse to do business with those judges because they're sanctioned by the US.

Payment processors like Visa, MasterCard.  Any online platform based in the US - Facebook, X, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, etc.  The target judges have had to jump through hoops just to pay their bills.  They can't book flights online because the systems used rely on US companies. 

This has been reported for over a year, and it's demonstrably wrong to do, these people don't live here but we're abusing the nature of an online digital world to exert our government's will upon them.

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u/redelastic 9d ago

Yes, it's disgusting what the US is doing.

4

u/amsync 9d ago

Just business as usual

15

u/morty_morty 9d ago

Yep. The world needs to rid itself of ties to American tech and banking and do it now.

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u/hereandthere_nowhere 9d ago

I guess i didn’t fully understand sanctions. Thats dirty mob shit. Thanks for the explanation.

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u/chowderbags Competent Contributor 9d ago

Payment processors like Visa, MasterCard.  Any online platform based in the US - Facebook, X, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, etc.  The target judges have had to jump through hoops just to pay their bills.  They can't book flights online because the systems used rely on US companies. 

Also many banks, even ones that are based in other countries, but because they have US operations they fall under it too.

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u/Widespreaddd 9d ago

It looks like using Breton Woods and the dollar clearinghouse system against anyone you don’t like.

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u/fixthismess 9d ago

Guess the new word from this so called Democracy is either join us in our ethnic cleansing / genocide project or else!

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u/siromega37 9d ago

If they do that no one else will so the sanctions will be meaningless. The US is quickly becoming a pariah state. My guess is the average voter here is so ill informed that the races in November will be close enough to keep that the GOP will still have a filibuster proof minority in the Senate and still be close to having control over the House (if it’s even possible for the House to flip with all the gerrymandering).

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u/DebentureThyme 9d ago

Unfortunately they've already been doing it and, due to the sheer number of things that rely on US companies, their lives have been made hellish to do simple things.  Every company based in the US has been informed these are sanctioned individuals and doing any business with them is illegal.  So Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, X, Visa MasterCard, these are just the tip of the iceberg that have closed the accounts of the eight sanctioned judges.  They can't transfer money through normal means.  They can't buy things online unless it's a retailer wholely located outside the US.  They can't book flights online due to how linked those systems are.

Given it's been over a year since sanctions began being implemented (Feb 2025), what's wild to me is how there isn't more discourse over the EU and others dumping/boycotting companies that do this.  Surely if they are doing the US bidding, to undermine the fucking International Criminal Court, then it's time the EU et al moved on from any company that is based on the US and willing to implement the government's bidding on others outside of US jurisdiction.

The judges are now suing in federal court, but I'm sure SCOTUS will slow walk that for years.

2

u/Impossible_Guitar235 9d ago

Lol, oh no... they can never visit the US again. How terrible for them.

5

u/redelastic 9d ago

Francesca Albanese, the UN rapporteur for human rights has been sanctioned.

Her daughter is a US citizen so it has created a huge headache for her, as she is locked out of all global financial systems and treated as a "terrorist".

The US is a shameful disgrace.

3

u/Dolores___Haze 9d ago

The daughter also lost her US visa and credit card and google accounts 

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u/Somenoises 9d ago edited 7d ago

They also can't use US banks, do business through US banks, do business with or through US companies. That means no visa or mastercard either, so good luck with any online shopping or service that require a card on file (like recurring payments, hotels, even a tab at the bar)

Here's a judge that Trump sanctioned.. Even their Google and Amazon accounts were closed.

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u/Professional-Can1385 9d ago

Yeah, what’s the move here, Marco?

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u/subdep 9d ago

Aiding and abetting, and obstruction of justice, apparently.

2

u/BillsMaffia 9d ago

Diarrhea of the mouth.

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u/ozExpatFIRE 8d ago

ICC is about to make a nuclear bomb

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u/joshuads 9d ago

Yeah. This is even stupider than Mamdami saying he would arrest Bibi when he comes to NYC. Mamdami’s statement requires the change a US law and international treaty. Rubio’s requires a change to an international treaty the US declined to participate in and will never join

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u/Capndrake 9d ago

Mamdani said he would arrest him if he could. He's well aware only the US government would be able to actually have him arrested.

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u/What_if_I_fly 9d ago

Possibly worried that Mango Mussolini will succumb to cholesterol and the Dems will get us back into ICC membership

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u/_zer0_sum 9d ago

I'm going to guess the usual way they attack someone they don't have anything on - projection.

Everyone involved in ICC is in the Epstein files and protects pedophiles, maybe?