The United States has imposed sanctions on Senegalese lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, a senior trial lawyer at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and ICC President Tomoko Akane of Japan, in the latest escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign against the court.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two were targeted for their alleged involvement in ICC efforts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute officials from countries that have not accepted the court’s jurisdiction.

Rubio accused the ICC of being a “corrupt and fatally politicized” institution that had exceeded its mandate.

“We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty,” he said.

The sanctions include asset freezes, travel bans and restrictions on services from US companies. They bring to at least 11 the number of ICC officials sanctioned by the Trump administration, including nine judges and the court’s chief prosecutor.

The latest move also recalls Washington’s previous targeting of Fatou Bensouda, the Gambian former ICC prosecutor. 

During Trump’s first term in office, Bensouda was subjected to US sanctions over her office’s investigation into alleged war crimes involving US personnel in Afghanistan.

The US and Israel are not members of the ICC.

Washington has also imposed sanctions over ICC arrest warrants issued against senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Netanyahu has denied the allegations.

Rubio last month urged the ICC’s 125 member states to withdraw as part of a campaign to dismantle the institution “brick by brick”.

Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in member states and in cases referred by the UN Security Council.

Human rights organisations have condemned the US campaign, warning that it undermines international justice.