Hundreds of human rights organizations have urged ICC member states to condemn the U.S. attempts to exert pressure on the court through sanctions.

The Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) and dozens of human rights organizations from various countries have called on the states that are members of the Rome Statute to firmly oppose the attempts by the United States to impose sanctions related to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The statement was published on the website of the ZMINA Human Rights Center, which is one of the signatories.

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a law “to counter the illegitimate court.” This supports the imposition of sanctions against the International Criminal Court for conducting investigations, arrests, detentions, or prosecutions of U.S. citizens or those from allied countries.

The human rights defenders who signed the statement to the 125 member states of the ICC believe that the U.S. restrictions could severely impact the court's ability to fulfill its important mandate in all situations it addresses. Financial institutions may preemptively refuse to engage in transactions involving the ICC.

This will directly affect the victims of serious international crimes that the court is investigating.

“Sanctions will lead to the U.S. resorting to similar actions as those taken by the Russian Federation in response to the arrest warrant issued by the court for Russian President Vladimir Putin. This includes arrest warrants for the prosecutor and judges of the ICC, as well as laws criminalizing cooperation with the court. Sanctions are a tool that should be applied against individuals responsible for serious international crimes, not against those seeking justice,” the authors of the appeal add.

Human rights defenders are calling for a public condemnation of the use of sanctions to undermine the ICC's work, for public support of the court, and for the U.S. to cease any attempts at pressure. They also urge the implementation of national and regional laws to counter extraterritorial sanctions and to protect those who cooperate with the ICC.

They specifically urge member states to comply with all ICC decisions, particularly arrest warrants, so that suspects of serious international crimes cannot travel freely around the world. Such trips should be regarded as part of strategic efforts aimed at undermining the ICC's work, as specialists have previously noted.

This is not the first appeal from human rights defenders against the sanctions imposed by the U.S.

It is worth noting that the sanctions were imposed by the U.S. due to arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Similar warrants were also issued by the ICC against three Hamas officials.

All of them are suspected of murders, hostage-taking, sexual violence, torture, cruel treatment of prisoners, and other inhumane acts.

The U.S. authorities have previously pressured the International Criminal Court, whose jurisdiction they do not recognize. In 2019, they already imposed restrictions due to investigations into the situation in Afghanistan. American military personnel and CIA members, investigators claimed, could have committed war crimes while torturing detainees in the country.