ICC Wins Sakharov Prize as EU Lawmakers Rebuke US Sanctions

The European Parliament awarded its 2026 Sakharov Prize to the International Criminal Court and its officials on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, a choice that lawmakers openly framed as a rebuke of new U.S. sanctions on the tribunal in The Hague. Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the laureate in the chamber in Strasbourg, roughly two weeks after the Trump administration expanded its sanctions on the court.

“With the award of the Sakharov prize to the International Criminal Court and its officials, the European Parliament recognises the Court’s important work in upholding international law and justice,” Metsola said, according to the Parliament’s official announcement. The prize will be presented in December during Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg.

Why the ICC Won the Sakharov Prize

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, created in 1988 and named after Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, is the EU’s top human rights honor. Past winners include Nelson Mandela and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. It is usually given to individuals or groups; this year’s award goes collectively to an institution and the prosecutors, judges and staff who work there.

The ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court. Created under the Rome Statute, it tries individuals accused of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression when national courts are unable or unwilling to act. All 27 EU member states are parties to the statute, which obliges them to carry out the court’s decisions, including arrest warrants.

The Parliament said the award highlights the court’s investigations, prosecutions, trials and arrest warrants. MEPs have described the waves of sanctions imposed on the court since 2025, mainly by the United States, as “serious attacks on the international justice system,” and ICC judges have briefed parliamentary committees on how the measures affect both their work and their personal lives.

U.S. Sanctions on the International Criminal Court

According to Euronews, the Trump administration announced its latest sanctions against the court on Oct. 9, following repeated U.S. criticism of the ICC’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its earlier investigation into the conduct of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The Associated Press described the new measures as sweeping and part of a campaign to dismantle the tribunal. The Boston Report covered an earlier round in its report on the Navi Pillay Nobel Peace Prize and new U.S. sanctions on the ICC.

French MEP Chloé Ridel, who nominated the court, called the decision “a message of hope and resistance sent to Donald Trump,” adding: “We will stand with the ICC for as long as it takes.”

The award also comes as European governments take a harder line on other disputes involving Israel and the United States. Britain, for example, recently warned bidders on the E1 settlement tender that they could face sanctions, a sign that questions of international law are increasingly shaping European foreign policy.

How the Vote Was Decided

The ICC was not the expected winner. Parliament’s political group leaders chose it over two other finalists: Tanzanian opposition lawyer Tundu Lissu, and Iranian sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, nominated on behalf of people persecuted by Iran’s authorities. Euronews reported that some insiders had expected Lissu to win.

The center-right European People’s Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists backed Lissu, while the Socialists and Democrats, Renew Europe, the Greens and the Left supported the ICC. The far-right Patriots for Europe group pressed for the Rahimi sisters, producing a deadlock that would have forced a runoff. Patriots co-leader Kinga Gál broke it by abstaining, which allowed the ICC’s backers to win a relative majority, according to sources who spoke to Euronews.

Pressure on the EU to Use Its Blocking Statute

The prize adds to pressure on the European Commission to go beyond words. MEPs have repeatedly urged the Commission to activate the EU’s 1996 blocking statute, a regulation that nullifies the effect of certain foreign sanctions inside the EU and lets European companies and individuals seek compensation for damages. In early October, the chairs of five parliamentary committees issued a joint statement on the sanctions, and last week lawmakers from across the spectrum asked Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to use “all instruments at our disposal” to protect the court.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the threat of sanctions against the ICC “not acceptable” on Oct. 9. As of Thursday, the EU had not taken concrete legal action, Euronews reported. The award ceremony in December will be another test of whether Brussels moves from symbolic support to measures that shield the court’s staff and partners from U.S. penalties.

Featured image: The International Criminal Court in The Hague. Photo: Choinowski, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

• European Parliament: The International Criminal Court and its officials awarded the Sakharov Prize
• Euronews: EU Parliament awards Sakharov Prize to ICC in rebuke of US sanctions
• AP News: European Union awards top rights prize to International Criminal Court days after Trump sanctions
• European Parliament: Sanctions on the ICC, joint statement by committee chairs