The International Criminal Court has taken steps to protect its operations from potential US sanctions targeting the institution, according to the court’s deputy prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan.
Khan told the Financial Times that the ICC had spent the past year restructuring key systems to reduce its exposure to potential sanctions. The measures include replacing Microsoft office software with German open-source alternative openDesk and finding alternatives for banking and health insurance arrangements.
The court has also been paying employees several months in advance to reduce the risk of disruption to salaries if sanctions affect its financial operations.
The preparations come as the administration of US President Donald Trump has reportedly prepared sanctions against the ICC as part of its broader pressure campaign against the tribunal. Reuters reported earlier this week that Washington was preparing measures that could target the court as a whole, rather than only individual officials.
The United States is not a member of the ICC, which was established in 2002 to prosecute individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity when national judicial systems are unable or unwilling to do so.
The potential sanctions could create difficulties for the court’s access to financial, technology and other international services, making its efforts to diversify critical systems increasingly important.
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