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GIWPS Analysis: The US Should Seek Ways to Support the ICC – Not Dismantle It

July 15, 2026

• Kimberly (Kim) Hart

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Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the U.S. would use a whole-of-government effort to dismantle the International Criminal Court (ICC). The State Department described the efforts that the U.S. would take, from directly pressuring foreign governments, including those that receive U.S. assistance or security partnerships, to visa restrictions and sanctions against ICC personnel and “affiliated organizations.” The reason? A longer term campaign in the U.S. against the ICC, which Rubio says “poses an intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty.”

GIWPS Distinguished Non-Residential Fellow and former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Beth Van Schaack responded to this announcement in Just Security, stating that “Secretary Rubio’s threat to launch an all-out assault on the International Criminal Court is as unnecessary as it is misguided. If you look at the Court’s docket, it is singularly focused on delivering justice for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity—including sexual violence and harm to children—in some of the worst atrocity situations around the world: Darfur, Sudan; Libya; the Philippines; Ukraine; and Venezuela. By way of example, arrest warrants have been issued for senior Russian figures for deliberately attacking civilians in Ukraine, former President Rodrigo Duterte for launching a campaign of murder in the Philippines, and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing for the enduring persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar/Burma.”

The ICC is an essential tool for advancing Women, Peace and Security. It is a court of last resort: a space to hold the most egregious violations of international law – including atrocity crimes against women and girls – to account. The Rome Treaty that founds the ICC cements some forms of sexual and gender based violence and crimes against women as war crimes, acts of genocide, and crimes against humanity, and the Office of the Prosecutor has provided additional gender-focused policies. The ICC has investigated crimes against women and girls in countries including Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, and Ukraine, and last year it issued its first ever conviction for gender persecution as a crime against humanity. As GIWPS Conflict and Security Fellow Jessica Anania recently wrote: “Failing to recognize and condemn wartime violations can normalize and reinforce gender-based discrimination and violence, undermining the effectiveness of frameworks like WPS.”

GIWPS Executive Director Melanne Verveer states, “U.S. interests are enhanced – not threatened – by the ICC. Accountability for atrocity crimes is critical for stability, democracy, and the universal values of human rights. Women and girls around the world deserve to live free of these horrible crimes and to see justice when they occur. Secretary Rubio’s reference to “so-called international law” seeks to undermine over 80 years of international consensus and legal obligations to holding perpetrators to account. Any perpetrators of these crimes should be prosecuted, and the U.S. should double down on its commitment to enforcing these laws – including among our own armed forces and government officials – rather than undermining them.”