The US threatens people who cooperate with the ICC

People who cooperate with the ICC may suffer from US sanctions. President Donald Trump issued a so-called executive order on Thursday that gives the Department of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the right to freeze such people's assets in the United States.

EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell immediately responds to the message, saying it raises "serious concerns".

- We in the EU are strong supporters of the ICC. The Court has a decisive role in ordering international justice and dealing with the most serious international crimes. It must be respected by all countries, Borrell told reporters.

He says that the issue will be raised when the EU's foreign ministers have a video conference on Monday.

But the question of the ICC's role is controversial, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports the US and Trump's decision:

- This court has been politicized and is obsessed with witch-hunting against Israel and the United States. The court is closing its eyes on the world's worst human rights abuser, such as the terrorist regime in Iran, Netanyahu said at a press conference.

Trump's decision is aimed at the ICC's investigation into possible war crimes in Afghanistan. A senior government official says the investigation is "being carried forward by an organization whose integrity is questionable," while Justice Minister William Barr says Russia is "manipulating" the ICC.

The order also gives the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the right to refuse entry visas to those who cooperate with the ICC's investigators.

However, Afghanistan is a member of the ICC. But the Afghan government has said that any war crimes should be investigated nationally and not transferred to the ICC, based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wants to investigate suspected war crimes between 2003 and 2014. These crimes include the killing of civilians perpetrated by the militant Islamist Taliban movement, suspicions of torture of prisoners in the Afghan government's prisons, and possible crimes by foreign forces and the US the CIA intelligence service may have performed in Afghanistan.