How do U.S. sanctions against international justice actors affect efforts to ensure accountability? This question is explored in the new report Criminalising Accountability: The U.S. Lawfare Against the International Justice System, published today by the Coalition for the ICC (CICC). The report examines the complex architecture of the U.S. sanctions regime and shows how these measures are being used in ways that undermine international justice efforts at the International Criminal Court and by civil society actors.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the ICC Chief Prosecutor and judges, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, as well as three leading Palestinian human rights organizations – PCHR, Al-Haq, and Al Mezan. In the context of investigations into alleged international crimes in Palestine and Afghanistan, this escalation is part of a broader pattern of politically motivated actions that erode the international legal order, judicial independence, and civil society’s ability to combat impunity.
The CICC report finds that the sanctions affect not only institutions and individuals directly targeted, but also have wider repercussions for victims and survivors across all ongoing ICC investigations – and for the rule of law more broadly. A climate of chilling effects and overcompliance further amplifies the reach of the sanctions regime. Ultimately, the price is borne by victims and survivors of international crimes, as well as by those who continue their work under increasing pressure.
“NGOs should resist these measures and take a principled view as much as they can. Private donors and NGOs should also remain principled vis à vis the Palestinian organisations, continue to support them and not shy away: such pushbacks need to be met with resistance”, says Andreas Schüller co-director of the International Crimes and Accountability program at ECCHR.
Moreover, the report calls on states and international institutions to urgently act on their responsibility to resist such attacks and protect those affected. Crimes must never go unpunished – especially those committed by powerful states.
The ECCHR has, in several letters, called on the German government – as one of the ICC’s largest supporters and donors – to take concrete measures to support and protect the Court and its global mandate.
