U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order.
It is authorising sanctions against individuals involved in an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into whether U.S. forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
But, the U.S. government has never been a member of the court.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), located in The Hague, is the court of last resort for prosecution of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
It is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
Its founding treaty, the Rome Statute, entered into force on July 1, 2002.