The United States has imposed sanctions on Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge who is president of the International Criminal Court, according to the US Treasury Department website.
This latest move on Tuesday is part of the Trump administration's ongoing campaign against the Hague-based court, which was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The US is not a member of the court.
The US last year imposed targeted sanctions on several ICC officials, including prosecutors and judges, citing the ICC's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, and a past probe into US troops in Afghanistan.
The sanctions freeze any US assets the individuals may have and essentially cut them off from the US financial system, with which almost all internationally operating banks have close ties.
Efforts to quit ICC
In June, three International Criminal Court judges sued Trump and his administration over the sanctions, arguing the measures were unlawful.
The Treasury also issued a general license on Tuesday authorising the wind-down of transactions involving Akane through September 17.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month said the administration would step up efforts to undermine the ICC, including with a diplomatic campaign aimed at persuading other countries to quit the institution.
Rubio argued that the court posed a threat to US personnel carrying out Trump's hardline immigration policies or strikes on boats accused of carrying drugs, as well as other US service members.
Trump has said the campaign was aimed at defending Netanyahu and others from prosecution, rather than Trump himself.
Aim to shield Trump from accountability for overseas military action
Reuters found the Trump administration sanctions against ICC officials were intended in part to head off any future attempts to hold the Republican president or his officials accountable for US military action overseas.
The United States has never been a member of the court. The ICC asserts jurisdiction only if a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities itself.
However, the ICC statute also gives the court the power to prosecute atrocity crimes committed on the territory of member states by nationals of non-member states.
