The US President has authorised sanctions against investigators of the International Criminal Court.

It is President Trump's latest attempt to prevent the organisation from continuing its investigations into alleged war crimes perpetrated by the US military in Afghanistan.

The investigation also focuses on the actions of the Afghani military and the Taliban.

US seeks to sanction #ICC prosecutors simply for doing their job--striving to hold those responsible for war crimes to account. ⚖

The Trump administration's contempt for the global rule of law is plain. #ICC member countries should make clear this bullying won't work. pic.twitter.com/GUuDKZ19B2

— Liz Evenson (@liz_evenson) June 11, 2020

The new order targets anyone who has “directly engaged in any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any United States personnel without the consent of the United States."

It also covers anyone who does the same to any US ally.

The ICC Appeals Court finally gave the green-light to the investigation in early March – prompting Washington to warn that it would deny visas to anyone involved.

The body originally decided against the investigation because US authorities, Afghan authorities and the Taliban had said they would not cooperate.

The body angered US officials further in recent weeks, when Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called for an investigation into crimes committed against Palestinians by Israel.

US President Donald Trump walks in the rain on the South Lawn of the White House, 11-06-2020. Image: Andrew Harnik/AP/Press Association Images

Amnesty Ireland Executive Director Colm O'Gorman told Newstalk that tonight’s order is just the latest Trump attempt to undermine the court.

“Last year, the Us put in place a series of sanctions and restrictions, visa blocks etc. on officials involved with the ICC investigation and today it has gone further than that,” he said.

“But it has also just launched a fairly extraordinary, even for the Trump administration, vitriolic attack on the integrity of the court.”

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the economic sanctions would be decided on a case-by-cases basis and confirmed that the visa restrictions would include the targeted officials’ family members.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany talks to reporters at the White House, 11-06-2020. Image: Pool/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany noted that the US was not a party to the court and has “repeatedly rejected” its claims of jurisdiction over US personnel.

“The International Criminal Court’s actions are an attack on the rights of the American people and threaten to infringe upon our national sovereignty,” she said.

“The International Criminal Court was established to provide accountability for war crimes, but in practice it has been an unaccountable and ineffective international bureaucracy that targets and threatens United States personnel as well as personnel of our allies and partners.”

She accused the court of pursuing “politically-motivated investigations against us and our allies, including Israel.”