HRN gave an oral statement on egregious retaliation by the United States related to the Gaza conflict at the 60th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva for the Item 3 General Debate on 18 September 2025. A video of the statement is below, followed by a transcription of the statement.
Transcription:
We protest the United States government’s retaliation against statements and actions seeking accountability for crimes committed in the Gaza conflict.
In July, the US State Department sanctioned three Palestinian rights groups after they petitioned the ICC to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes.
On August 9, the US government sanctioned Special Rapporteur for occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese and lobbied for her removal for her statements on Israel’s criminal conduct in the conflict. On August 22, the US further sanctioned four ICC officials, two judges and two prosecutors, for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, which the Court described as a “flagrant attack on the independence of an impartial judicial institution.” US Senator Lindsey Graham further threatened to sanction states into “economic oblivion” if they complied with the warrants.
Even after US President Donald Trump acknowledged “real starvation” in Gaza in July, for which the government of Israel bore “a lot of responsibility”, and despite credible evidence of widespread war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, the US government continues to supply Israel’s government with weapons for the conflict.
These actions facilitate impunity and support gross human rights violations, and we call on the US government to end all sanctions and harassment of parties seeking accountability in the Gaza conflict, and to end its financial and materiel support for Israel’s military.