Oppose sanctions against the International Criminal Court, safeguard victims’ access to justice

The Coalition for the International Criminal Court and more than 120 of its member non-governmental organisations and coalitions from around the globe strongly oppose efforts by the United States of America (US) to impose sanctions related to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and urge ICC member states to defend the ICC, its officials, and those cooperating with it from measures aimed at undermining the court’s vital mandate for justice.

The ICC is an independent judicial institution tasked with delivering justice to victims of serious international crimes when they have nowhere else to turn. It is a critical court of last resort supported by 125 member countries and operating in more than 16 countries across the globe.  

US sanctions could severely affect the ability of the ICC to fulfil its crucial mandate in all situations where it operates. Financial institutions and other operators may pre-emptively refuse to deal with transactions involving the ICC, effectively crippling the court’s ability to do its job. These sanctions would likely impact victims, legal representatives and civil society organisations, who could face consequences for their support of justice before the ICC, ending essential work for victims’ access to redress for the worst crimes.  

Sanctions against the ICC will impede victims’ access to credible and independent justice and are an affront to victims and survivors globally. Sanctions will see the US engaging in the same kind of obstruction carried out by the Russian Federation in retaliation for the court’s arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin. This included arrest warrants against the ICC prosecutor and judges, as well as a law criminalising cooperation with the court. Sanctions are a tool to be used against those responsible for the most serious international crimes, not against those seeking justice.  

Our organisations call on the United States to cease any effort, including through sanctions, to derail the ICC’s independent judicial processes, and commit to supporting access to justice for all victims and survivors of serious international crimes, including before the ICC.  

ICC member countries, ICC and Assembly of States Parties (ASP) officials, regional organisations, UN experts, and civil society have come together to defend the court against politicised interference and obstruction. But more needs to be done to protect the court and ensure that it can continue its work undeterred.  

Our organisations call on the ICC’s 125 member states in every region of the world to:  

• Publicly condemn the use of sanctions to undermine the ICC and express strong, unconditional commitment to the ICC and its critical global mandate;  
• Call on the United States to cease any efforts to undermine the court’s independence and essential work, while encouraging the United States to join the ICC and fully support victims’ access to justice;  
• Cooperate fully with the ICC to consistently support the court’s work across all situations where the court acts, and call on all other relevant actors to do the same. This should include the execution of all the court’s decisions and requests, in particular pending arrest warrants, as well as harmonising domestic legislations with the Rome Statute, ratifying and implementing the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court (APIC), and signing all relevant cooperation agreements with the ICC (for example, on the protection of witnesses and victims; the release of persons, including interim release; and the enforcement of sentences); 
• Adopt and/or implement national and regional blocking statutes, such as the European Union (EU) blocking statute, that aims to shield European operators from the effects of extraterritorial sanctions.  Blocking statutes and similar instruments can provide the Court and its partners with essential protection and send a powerful message that ICC member countries will not tolerate efforts to undermine the Court;   
• Adopt any other protective measures at the domestic, regional or international level, and engage with domestic and regional service providers to ensure that they will continue working with the Court; 
• Adopt and implement measures and national frameworks to protect those cooperating with and supporting the court, including civil society organisations and human rights defenders.    

Signatories

The Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) and: 

• A world without chemical and biological weapons-www 
• Action des chrétiens activistes des droits de l’Homme à Shabunda (ACADHOSHA) 
• Action pour la réforme de la justice et la promotion des droits de l’homme (ARJPDH) 
• Afghanistan Transitional Coordination Group 
• African Network for International Criminal Justice (ANICJ) 
• Afrique pour la Justice  
• Al Mezan Center for Human Rights 
• Al-Haq 
• Al-Haq Europe 
• Amnesty International 
• Arab Centre for independence of judiciary & legal profession (ACIJLP)  
• Asamblea Permanente de Derechos Humanos 
• Asia Justice Coalition (AJC)*  
• Asociación Americana de Juristas  
• Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH) 
• Ateneo Human Rights Center 
• Atrocities Watch Africa 
• Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) 
• Avocats Sans Frontières 
• Bureau d’études et de réflexions pour le bien-être des Communautés/ BERCO 
• Canadian Partnership for International Justice 
• CDN/Colombes de la Nature 
• Center for Civil Liberties 
• Center for Constitutional Rights 
• Center for Development of International Law  
• Center for International Law (CenterLaw) 
• Center for Justice and Accountability 
• Center for Truth and Justice 
• Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CIPRODEH) 
• Centro de Justicia y Paz (Cepaz) 
• Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS) 
• Civil organization “Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group” 
• Civitas Maxima 
• Club des amis du droit du Congo  
• Coalition Burundaise pour la CPI  
• Coalition for the Prevention of Hazara Genocide 
• Coalition Guinéenne pour la CPI 
• Coalition Nationale pour la Cour pénale internationale de la République Démocratique du Congo (CN-CPI/RDC) 
• Coalitions de l’Afrique Francophone pour la CPI  
• Colombian Commission of Jurists 
• COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peacebuilding  
• Darfur Call 
• Darfur Network for Human Rights (DNHR) 
• Defense for Children International – Palestine 
• Democracy Development Foundation 
• Democracy Without Borders-Kenya 
• Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past 
• Dynamique chrétienne pour la défense des droits humains et de l’environnement, DCDHE  
• European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) 
• Femmes Solidaires pour la Paix et Développement  
• Fondation Congolaise pour la promotion des Droits humains et la Paix 
• Foro Penal 
• Foundation Sunflowers 
• Front de Lutte contre la Pauvreté et les Crimes (FROLUPAC) 
• Fundación Internacional Baltasar Garzón –FIBGAR 
• Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect 
• Global Justice Center 
• Global Rights Compliance 
• Help Not Handcuffs, Inc.  
• Helsinki Citizen’s Assembly Vanadzor 
• Human Rights Agenda Association  
• Human Rights Association (İHD) 
• Human Rights Center ZMINA 
• Human Rights First 
• Human Rights Watch 
• Humanitarian Law Center 
• International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) 
• International Centre of Justice for Palestinians 
• International Commission of Jurists 
• International Commission of Jurists Norway (ICJ Norway) 
• International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) 
• International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) 
• Just Access e.V. 
• Justice Call 
• Kenya Human Rights Commission 
• Kurdish organizations Network coalition for the International Criminal court (KONCICC) 
• Kurdistan without Genocide 
• Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy 
• Lawyers for Justice in Libya  
• Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) 
• Life campaign to abolish the death sentence in Kurdistan    
• Ligue Burundaise des droits de l’homme Iteka 
• Ligue pour la Paix, les Droits de l’Homme et la Justice (LIPADHOJ) 
• Ligue pour la Promotion et le Développement Intégral de la Femme et de l’Enfant (LIPRODIFE) 
• MADRE 
• Medical Action Group  
• Mnemonic 
• Netherlands Helsinki Committee 
• Network Against Killings in the Philippines (NAKPhil) 
• Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court (NCICC) 
• No Peace Without Justice 
• Norwegian Helsinki Committee 
• Nürnberger Menschenrechtszentrum 
• Open Society Justice Initiative 
• Organization Against Weapons of Mass Destruction in Kurdistan 
• Organization of the Justice Campaign‏- OJC 
• Parliamentarians for Global Action 
• People’s Empowerment Foundation (PEF)  
• Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court ( PCICC)  
• Physicians for Human Rights 
• Platform for Peace and Humanity 
• Protection of Rights without Borders NGO 
• Public Committee against Torture in Israel 
• REDRESS 
• Reporters Without Borders (RSF) / Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) 
• Réseau Equitas Côte d’Ivoire  (REQCI)  
• Rights for Peace 
• Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights  
• StoptheDrugWar.org 
• Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO) 
• Sudanese Women’s Rights Action  
• Swedish Foundation for Human Rights 
• Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society  
• Synergy for Justice Stichting 
• The Arab Coalition for the International Criminal Court (ACICC) 
• The Georgian Centre for Psychosocial and Medical rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT) 
• The Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression  
• Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) 
• Truth Hounds 
• Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union 
• Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group 
• United Nations Association of Sweden 
• UpRights 
• Vision GRAM- International  
• Wereld Federalisten Beweging Nederland 
• Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice  
• World Jurist Association Human Rights Institute  
• World Without Genocide 
• Zarga Organisation for Rural Development 

*This does not reflect the views or positions of all AJC members.