US opposes Hague; sanctions bite.
Nicolas Guillot, a French judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, who was recently sanctioned by the US government for his role in authorizing the prosecution of senior Israeli officials Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, says the restrictions have seriously disrupted his personal and professional life.
The US Treasury Department cited Guillot’s involvement in the process of issuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza as the reason for the sanctions. In total, six judges and three prosecutors at the court, including Karim Khan, have been placed on Washington’s sanctions list.
“The sanctions go far beyond a ban on entry to the US. My accounts with companies like Amazon, Airbnb, and PayPal have been closed, and even simple hotel reservations are being canceled because of these restrictions. I have been effectively cut off from a large part of the world’s banking system,” Guillot told Le Monde newspaper.
According to him, due to the broad nature of the sanctions, many non-US banks are also closing the accounts of sanctioned individuals, and any transactions involving dollars or US companies are prohibited.
The French judge stressed that political pressure will not affect the independence of the judges of the Hague court, who will continue to administer justice.
He called on European governments to activate the “blocking law” mechanism to reduce the impact of US sanctions, adding: “Behind the attacks on the court lies a larger question about the rule of law and the protection of victims of war crimes.”