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ICC halts probe into alleged crimes by US troops in Afghanistan amid US sanctions

12h ← 17h

Summary

  • ICC judges halted the Afghanistan investigation's inquiry into alleged crimes by US troops, focusing instead on the Taliban's actions since 2021.
  • The court cited significant limitations on the prosecution's ability to investigate and secure evidence; the prosecutor's office has appealed.
  • The investigation, opened in 2020, covers alleged crimes in Afghanistan since 2002 by Afghan government forces, the Taliban, US troops and US intelligence operatives.
  • The US has sanctioned 13 current and former ICC staff, including Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, who authorized the probe and is suing the Trump administration.
  • The inquiry into US forces had been deprioritized since 2021, when prosecutor Karim Khan cited challenges in obtaining evidence.
  • In October 2026 the US allowed the court six months of access to certain information technology and banking services.

Reactions

  • Canadian judge Kimberly Prost called the sanctions an 'attack in favour of impunity' against the international system of criminal justice built since the Second World War.
  • Prost forecast that the International Criminal Court will keep pursuing and prosecuting war criminals no matter what the US does.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump 'will never allow' the court to prosecute Americans and vowed to dismantle it 'brick by brick.'
  • President Trump urged ICC member nations in a UN General Assembly speech to 'officially resign from this rogue institution immediately.'
  • Four former US ambassadors and prosecutors argued in a court brief that the sanctions penalize independent judicial decision-making.
  • Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said Canada remains committed to the International Criminal Court process.

Timeline newest first

  1. In October 2026, the US allowed the International Criminal Court six months of access to certain information technology and banking services.
  2. In October 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened to dismantle the International Criminal Court 'brick by brick' if allies did not 'rein in' the court.
  3. On September 22, 2026, President Donald Trump urged International Criminal Court member nations at the UN General Assembly to 'officially resign from this rogue institution immediately.'
  4. In July 2026, four former US ambassadors and prosecutors of international criminal tribunals submitted a brief supporting the International Criminal Court judges' lawsuit against the sanctions.
  5. In June 2026, Canadian judge Kimberly Prost and two other International Criminal Court judges sued the Trump administration over the sanctions.
  6. In 2025, the Trump administration sanctioned Canadian International Criminal Court judge Kimberly Prost for her role in authorizing the Afghanistan investigation.
  7. In March 2020, judge Kimberly Prost judicially authorized the investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, including by US service members.
  8. Judges at the International Criminal Court issued a decision halting the prosecutor's investigation into alleged crimes by US troops in Afghanistan, focusing instead on the Taliban's actions since 2021.
  9. The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office appealed the judges' decision to halt the Afghanistan investigation's line of inquiry into US troops.
  10. The decision also closed the probe into the ISIL affiliate in Khorasan Province, citing 'significant limitations' on the prosecution's ability to secure evidence.
  11. The International Criminal Court issued four arrest warrants for Taliban leaders in 2025.
  12. In 2021, prosecutor Karim Khan deprioritized the Afghanistan investigation into American forces, citing challenges in obtaining evidence.
  13. The Afghanistan investigation opened in 2020, covering alleged offences since 2002 by Afghan government forces, the Taliban, US troops and US foreign intelligence operatives.

Sources newest first

  • Canadian judge decries U.S. sanctions of International Criminal Court as 'attack in favour of impunity' | CBC Newscbc.ca· 12h

    A CBC News article reports that Canadian International Criminal Court judge Kimberly Prost decries U.S. sanctions as an "attack in favour of impunity" and an assault on the international justice system built since the Second World War. Sanctioned for authorizing the Afghanistan war-crimes investigation, Prost says she lost banking, Google and iCloud access, and she and two other judges are suing the Trump administration.

  • ICC stops probe into alleged crimes by US troops in Afghanistanaljazeera.com· 17h

    The International Criminal Court's judges have halted the prosecutor's investigation into alleged crimes by US troops in Afghanistan and redirected it to the Taliban's actions since 2021, citing limits on securing evidence, and the prosecutor's office has appealed. The decision follows US sanctions on 13 ICC staff, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio quoted vowing to "dismantle the ICC, brick by brick."

Background newest first

  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Federalist Society’s 2026 National Lawyers Convention - United States Department of Statestate.gov· 45h

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in remarks and questions at the Federalist Society's 2026 National Lawyers Convention, credits the group's decades-long "long march through the institutions" of American law as a model conservatives must keep building on, arguing international law is an instrument of a global elite used against American sovereignty and quoting Pompey's "Stop quoting laws to men with swords" against ICC enforcement. He calls Iran the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, says its threat must be addressed despite unpopularity, and predicts conservatives will triumph in the end.

  • Diplomatic sources: ‘The Netherlands is negotiating the dismantling of the International Criminal Court’ - The Rights Forumrightsforum.org· 3d

    The Rights Forum reports, citing anonymous diplomatic sources, that under US sanctions pressure the Netherlands is negotiating an erosion of the International Criminal Court's powers that legal experts call dismantling: immunity for heads of state, curbs on prosecuting nationals of non-state parties, and deference to national legislation. The Dutch foreign ministry says in a statement that it remains firmly committed to the Court.

  • The clock is ticking: Europe is running out of time to save the International Criminal Courteuobserver.com· 5d

    In an EUobserver opinion piece, former International Criminal Court judge Christine Van den Wyngaert warns that Europe is running out of time to shield the court from US sanctions, arguing that relying on Washington's temporary General License 13 — which expires in April 2027 — and on diplomacy is not durable, and that the Democrats' midterm win offers an opening but no guarantee, since Trump retains his veto. She urges the European Commission to begin now preparing a delegated act adding the US measures to the Blocking Statute, give banks and service providers clear backing, and make no concessions on the court's jurisdiction or arrest warrants.

  • ICC赤根所長が米制裁を非難 国連年次報告、訪問困難でビデオ形式に - 日本経済新聞nikkei.com· 10d

    A Kyodo report for Nikkei covers ICC President Tomoko Akane's annual address to the UN General Assembly, delivered by pre-recorded video on the 2nd because US sanctions barred her visit to New York. She condemned the sanctions as an attack on judicial independence, noting 9 of 18 judges were targeted, while Japan pledged continued support and the US defended its measures.