US prepares sweeping sanctions on International Criminal Court

The Trump administration is preparing sweeping sanctions against the International Criminal Court that could restrict most of the Hague-based tribunal's financial transactions and potentially cut it off from much of the global banking system, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US officials and documents.The measures would take effect after a six- to seven-month grace period and could prevent the court from conducting transactions in US dollars, according to the report. Transactions involving communications services would be exempt.Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson pointed to Ssecretary of stateMarco Rubio's view that the ICC threatens US sovereignty.The administration could finalise the measures as early as this week, during the UN General Assembly in New York, or in the days that follow, according to the Journal.The proposed sanctions would go beyond existing US measures, which have targeted individual ICC officials including former chief prosecutor Karim Khan, ICC President Tomoko Akane, judges, deputy…