US-sanctioned International Criminal Court wins EU's Sakharov Prize

The International Criminal Court (ICC), a permanent international tribunal that investigates serious international crimes, has been awarded the Sakharov Prize. The prize is described as the European Union's top human rights award.

The award comes less than two weeks after US President Donald Trump announced sanctions against the court. The EU's recognition therefore arrives at a time when the institution is under sanctions from the United States.

The information available does not give further details on the reasoning behind the prize, the award ceremony or the content of the sanctions. What is known is that the two developments fall close together in time, and that the court is at once the target of US sanctions and the recipient of an EU human rights honour.