Trump slaps sanctions on Canadian International Criminal Court judge

Canadian International Criminal Court judge Kimberly Prost has been hit with sanctions by the Trump administration.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration slapped a Canadian judge on the International Criminal Court with sanctions as the U.S. State Department continues to push back on the tribunal.

The State Department said Wednesday that Kimberly Prost was sanctioned for “ruling to authorize the ICC’s investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.”

The ICC website says Prost has been a judge in the trial division since 2018, following a two-year stint as Chef de Cabinet for the ICC president. Before joining the court, she was the first Ombudsperson for the United Nations Security Council Al Qaida Sanctions Committee.

She also worked for the Canadian Department of Justice for nearly two decades.

The State Department also took action against other ICC officials from France, Fiji and Senegal linked it to the tribunal’s investigation into Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

The department said French judge Nicolas Guillou was sanctioned for ruling to authorize the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. Deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan and Mame Mandiaye Niang were sanctioned for upholding the arrest warrants.

The State Department has sanctioned a growing list of ICC officials with similar actions since U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the international tribunal in February. The sanctions freeze any assets the officials have in U.S. jurisdictions.

“We will continue to hold accountable those responsible for the ICC’s morally bankrupt and legally baseless actions against Americans and Israelis,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on social media.

The ICC condemned the latest actions of the Trump administration in a statement on its website. It called the sanctions a “flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.”

Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of the international court. The State Department alleged it is a “a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally Israel.”

“The United States has been clear and steadfast in our opposition to the ICC’s politicization, abuse of power, disregard for our national sovereignty, and illegitimate judicial overreach,” the State Department said.

Trump also targeted the ICC during his first administration over its probes into Israel and complaints over the war in Afghanistan. The first Trump administration took significant efforts to block preliminary investigations into the Afghanistan situation, which eventually paused the court’s probe.

Trump and other Republicans have criticized the court saying it could lead to warrants for American politicians, diplomats and military personnel. They say the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel or the United States.

Trump’s initial sanctions on officials were rescinded by president Joe Biden in 2021 and the ICC resumed its investigation into Afghanistan the following year. The court in July issued warrants for two senior Taliban leaders as part of the investigation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2025.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press