Phakiso Mochochoko, the head of the ICC's jurisdiction, complementarity and co-operation division, has also been blacklistedWashington — The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, over her investigation into whether American forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
“These coercive acts, directed at an international judicial institution and its civil servants, are unprecedented and constitute serious attacks against the court, the Rome Statute system of international criminal justice, and the rule of law more generally,” it said in a rare joint statement on behalf of the entire ICC.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres was concerned by Pompeo's announcement, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. Bensouda was given the go-ahead by the court in March to investigate whether war crimes were committed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan military and US forces.