Trump criticizes Nobel committee choice as ‘disgraceful’
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay called US sanctions on the International Criminal Court “unheard of” and “unacceptable” during a video-link appearance at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Saturday. The measures were unveiled hours after the South African former ICC judge received the prize on Friday, in what the United States described as an acceleration of its attempt to “dismantle” an institution it calls “rogue.”
“There is so much tension and anxiety over the continued existence of international courts, mainly the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” Pillay said. “Most importantly, sanctions have been announced by one country against the judges, just for the judicial orders they issue. This is unheard of, unacceptable.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the measures — which include a ban on US entities making transactions with the court — were intended to “defend US sovereignty,” and he accused the ICC of seeking to prosecute Americans. The United States had already sanctioned 17 ICC judges and officials; the new move sanctions the court itself as an institution and is intended to inhibit its ability to operate financially.
Washington has provided a six-month grace period before some of the latest sanctions take effect, meaning member states can keep paying for the court’s operations — a move the administration said is meant to allow countries time to negotiate a “solution to address” US concerns. The new measures do not say that the court’s arrest warrants must be withdrawn before the sanctions can be lifted.
The administration has said the ICC is run by what it calls globalists who threaten American sovereignty. It has objected to a past investigation into the actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan, which the court has since closed, and to ICC arrest warrants for Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ICC said the measures were an assault on the rule of law and the foundations of the international legal order. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the US decision “a serious blow to our collective pursuit of international criminal justice, of which the ICC is a key pillar.” The UK joined Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands in saying they “regret and strongly disagree with” the sanctions.
The Nobel committee awarded Pillay the prize on Friday “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” which it said paved the way for a “more comprehensive global legal order.” Trump called the announcement “disgraceful” and an “indelible stain on the country of Norway.” He has long indicated he thought he should have been awarded the prize, and was nominated by several allies for it last year.
Pillay, 85, also served as UN rights chief, taking part in high-profile work considering allegations of human rights violations, including in Rwanda, Myanmar and Gaza. Early in her career she defended anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and on Friday she became the country’s fifth Peace Prize winner, following Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Accepting the prize, Pillay joked, “If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump” — a reference to last year’s winner, Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado, who decided to gift her prize to the US president.