Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand spoke Tuesday with the Canadian judge facing American sanctions over her work at an international tribunal — but did not publicly condemn Washington’s decision.
On Aug. 20, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on International Criminal Court judges — including Kimberly Prost, who was sanctioned over her work on a case involving American troops in Afghanistan.
France immediately condemned the move as an attack on impartial justice. Ottawa had no immediate reaction, which drew criticism from advocates a week later.
On Tuesday, Anand wrote on social media that she spoke with Prost and said ICC judges do “vital work.”
Judges “are entrusted to be objective and impartial in the dispensation of their duties. I have the utmost confidence in Judge Prost’s capacity to have done, and to continue to do, just that,” she wrote.
Her statement offered no criticism of the U.S. for sanctioning Prost.
Anand’s office said last week that she raised concerns about the decision to sanction Prost when she met in Washington with Rubio the day after he announced that step.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy said last month the Carney government was “abandoning” the world court it helped to found, and demonstrating conditional support for the rules-based international order it constantly talks about.
He said Ottawa’s decision not to push back publicly on the sanctions suggested that public servants who do work that irritates the U.S. could face personal consequences.
Mark Kersten, a University of the Fraser Valley professor who specializes in the ICC, called on Ottawa to implement a blocking order which would bar Canadian businesses from enforcing American sanctions that could limit Prost’s access to things like banks and airlines.
He said Anand’s statement Tuesday came late and should have said more.
“Canada must speak out against those who threaten our judges and diplomats and be clear about how we will protect them,” he said in response to Anand’s message on the platform X.
He said the statement “weirdly pretends the attacks on the ICC and Judge Prost don’t exist, or don’t come from the regime down south.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
