US sanctions could make ICC operations impossible, lawyer says
TASS
MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/. US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) could make its day-to-day operations and investigations impossible due to restrictions related to the US financial system and technology, Artur Gulasaryan, an associate professor at the Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL), told TASS.
Reuters earlier reported, citing two sources, that US President Donald Trump’s administration had prepared a full package of sanctions against the ICC as an organization and planned to announce their introduction soon.
"Cutting the ICC off from US technology and the financial system makes it impossible to conduct its day-to-day operations and investigations," Gulasaryan said.
The lawyer explained that due to the sanctions, the ICC could lose access to US financial and technology services without special authorization from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). "The financial aspect of the restrictions involves the inevitable blocking of dollar correspondent accounts and transactions, which, under strict banking compliance rules, effectively isolates the ICC from the international settlement system and makes standard cross-border payments impossible," he said. "The court’s operations are further paralyzed by the severe deterioration of its IT infrastructure: due to OFAC restrictions, the institution loses legal access to US-licensed software, cloud data storage services and secure communications systems."
Fonte: TASS
