After Trump's Sanctions, the International Criminal Court Wins the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has won the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize. This year's prize, which honours defenders of human rights and freedom of thought, has gone to the Hague-based court. The news emerged through two people with knowledge of the decision.
The prize is worth €50,000. Past winners include Nelson Mandela and many other renowned human rights defenders — the list also includes Alexei Navalny, Belarusian journalists, and the people of Ukraine. An international judicial institution has now been added to that list.
The announcement comes at a time when the ICC faces sanctions from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump announced sanctions on the court on Oct. 9. A few weeks later, the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group nominated the court for the Sakharov Prize.
At the time of the nomination, in early October, S&D vice-chair Yannis Maniatis said: 'We stand by the ICC and its officials, and we are committed to safeguarding its work. We must guarantee that the ICC is able to operate independently, free from pressure or external interference.'
Maniatis added that it is a people-based organization, not a political one. In his words, if the aggressors become the victims, and if everyone stands by helplessly as international justice erodes, there is a risk of allowing those who believe themselves above the law to prevail.
The prize is named in honour of Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet physicist and dissident who championed human rights and freedom of expression in the Soviet era. Through the prize bearing his name, the European Parliament each year honours the people and institutions working to defend those values under pressure.
By tradition, shortlisted candidates are invited to the Parliament's award ceremony, which takes place during the December plenary session in Strasbourg. In the ICC's case, the prize is expected to be formally presented at that same ceremony.
Analysts say that through this prize the European Parliament has also sent a clear political message — one of standing beside the international justice system in the face of U.S. sanctions. Disagreement in the Western world over the court, set up to try war crimes and crimes against humanity, is nothing new, but Europe has now stated its position publicly.
It remains to be seen whether this honour has any practical effect amid the ongoing international pressure on the ICC's work. International attention will also be on what the court's officials say around the award ceremony.
