Key actors — tap for context
International Criminal Court
permanent court in The Hague that prosecutes genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity
Why here: since October 9 it has been on the American sanctions list as an institution, but it may still use American software
More info →
OFAC
Office of Foreign Assets Control, the sanctions authority of the US Treasury Department
Why here: issued both the sanctions and the license that exempts telecommunications and software from them
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de Volkskrant
Dutch national daily from the publisher DPG Media
Why here: drew attention to the exception in the license
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Marco Rubio
American Secretary of State
Why here: announced and defended the sanctions against the court
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Karim Khan
British lawyer, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court since 2021, removed by member states in July 2026 for serious misconduct, a decision he is contesting
Why here: according to NOS, lost access to his email at Microsoft during earlier sanctions
More info →Microsoft
American software company
Why here: one of the suppliers whose services the court may continue to use
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Google
American technology company
Why here: one of the suppliers whose services the court may continue to use
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Amazon
American technology and commerce company, also operates a cloud service
Why here: one of the suppliers whose services the court may continue to use
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Donald Trump
American president in his second term
Why here: according to Rubio, will never allow the court to prosecute Americans
More info →Bradley T. Smith
director of the OFAC sanctions office
Why here: signed the license that left the court American software
Handelsblatt
German economic daily
Why here: first reported that the court is switching from Microsoft Office to openDesk
More info →De Morgen
Belgian daily from the publisher DPG Media
Why here: published the same text as de Volkskrant
Marieke de Hoon
Dutch professor of international criminal law
Why here: doubts the court will complete the switch to other software by April
The sanctions themselves are nonetheless harsh. On October 9, Washington for the first time placed the entire court on the sanctions list as an institution; until then, sanctions had applied only to individual judges and prosecutors. Baker McKenzie ↗ American companies and organizations have until April 7, 2027 to wind down business with the court, and until that day payments from member states and employee salaries are also allowed to go through. OFAC ↗ According to the Dutch public broadcaster NOS, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that President Trump will never allow the court to prosecute Americans. NOS ↗
The exception is all the more surprising given that, under earlier sanctions against individuals, then-Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan lost access to his Microsoft email account, according to NOS. On the day the sanctions were announced, NOS itself first reported that the court's staff would no longer be able to use American software, and later corrected the text, explaining that American cloud services are exempt from the sanctions. NOS ↗
In the meantime, the court is also distancing itself from American suppliers on its own. According to the German daily Handelsblatt, it decided last autumn to replace the Microsoft Office suite with the open-source software openDesk, which is developed by the German center for digital sovereignty. The Stack ↗ How far along the transition is remains unclear, and Marieke de Hoon, a professor of international criminal law, told NOS that she doubts it will be completed by April. NOS ↗
Read also: The US imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court
Read also: The International Criminal Court received the Sakharov Prize
*Illustrative photo: the building of the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2022 (Choinowski, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).*
