Washington demands NATO allies help ‘systematically dismantle’ ICC: Report

The US is forcing NATO allies to help “systematically dismantle” the International Criminal Court (ICC) and abandon its mandate, a report says.

US envoy Matthew Whitaker reportedly delivered the demand behind closed doors in Brussels in mid-July before the alliance’s 32 ambassadors, urging member states to withdraw from the Rome Statute, according to a report published by Politico on Wednesday.

“We will be watching closely who stands with America,” Whitaker said as he closed his remarks, according to three NATO diplomats cited by the news outlet.

Alongside his intervention, the US mission circulated a document to NATO delegations stating that “the US will systematically dismantle the capabilities of the ICC” and firmly requesting that allies “immediately take steps to withdraw.”

The document instructed NATO members to assess the ICC as a threat to their governments, publicly denounce its mandate as “overreach” and halt all material support to the court without delay.

It ended with a call for an “end [to] the charade of the ICC once and for all,” laying bare Washington’s determination to weaken an institution established to prosecute grave international crimes.

The US campaign intensified after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 imposing asset freezes and travel restrictions on ICC prosecutors and judges investigating US and Israeli officials.

Trump’s administration has since escalated its pressure on the court, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing in July a campaign to isolate and dismantle the ICC “brick by brick.”

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-war minister Yoav Gallant on November 21, 2024, for crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution and other inhumane acts, as well as war crimes including starvation as a method of warfare and intentionally directing attacks against civilians amid the regime’s genocide in Gaza.

The ICC has also investigated war crimes involving US personnel in Afghanistan, including abuses by US military and intelligence personnel.

The Afghanistan investigation was formally authorized in 2020 and covers crimes by members of the US armed forces and CIA personnel.

The Trump administration has portrayed such investigations as an attack on US sovereignty, with Rubio saying the ICC was “waging a war against our country.”

Rubio later declared that Washington would pursue a “whole-of-government campaign” to dismantle the ICC and warned that the US would take further measures until the court was “incapable of threatening American sovereignty.”

The campaign has already targeted senior ICC officials, including former chief prosecutor Karim Khan, while nine of the court’s 18 judges, its president Tomoko Akane, and both deputy prosecutors have been placed under US sanctions.

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