On September 22, HRN’s video oral statement condemning US sanctions on ICC personnel was played at the Human Rights Council’s 63rd session in Geneva. The video is below and a transcript of the statement is below that.
Oral Statement on US Sanctions on ICC Personnel
Statement Transcript:
Human Rights Now strongly condemns US sanctions on ICC personnel, most recently against President Tomoko Akane and Abdoulaye Seye from the Office of the Prosecutor. The US has sanctioned over a dozen Court personnel in all, including nine judges, two deputy-prosecutors, and the former prosecutor.
US officials have been explicit that their goal is “to systematically disable the ICC’s ability to operate,” and they have pressured other states to also reject it. The most recent sanctions form part of this campaign to destroy the Court.
The sanctions have severely impacted the recipients and their families’ daily lives by seizing, canceling, or disabling their access to bank accounts, credit cards, financial services, and email and social media accounts, among other restrictions.
Many extraterritorial institutions over-comply with the sanctions from fear of penalty without legal requirement.
These sanctions undermine the rule of law and the international legal order, flagrantly attack the Court’s judicial independence and hinder it meeting its legal mandate, and impede justice for victims.
We call on ICC member states to urgently take effective and coordinated action to protect the Court, including through domestic and regional blocking legislation. We also call on member states to take action to protect other actors cooperating with the Court who have also been sanctioned, including the Special Rapporteur for Palestine and Palestinian NGOs.
Thank you.