ICSPR Repeated U.S. Sanctions on the International Criminal Court Constitute Systematic Intimidation to Undermine Justice Following the Collapse of the Israeli Appeal

Date: 18 December 2025

Press Statement

ICSPR: Repeated U.S. Sanctions on the International Criminal Court Constitute Systematic Intimidation to Undermine Justice Following the Collapse of the Israeli Appeal

The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns, in the strongest terms, the announcement by the U.S. Secretary of State imposing new sanctions on two additional judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This move represents a continuation of an escalating U.S. approach that has previously targeted ICC judges and the Prosecutor, in a clear and systematic attempt to intimidate the international judicial institution and deter it from carrying out its legal mandate to prosecute crimes committed by the Israeli occupation.

ICSPR affirms that these new U.S. sanctions come in the aftermath of the ICC Appeals Chamber’s rejection of the Israeli appeal against the arrest warrants issued for Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister of War, Yoav Gallant. This timing exposes the true objective of the sanctions: retaliation against judges for their adherence to the law and the protection of individuals accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity from international accountability.

ICSPR considers that targeting judges and the Prosecutor, and threatening them with personal and political sanctions, constitutes a blatant and repeated assault on the independence of the international judiciary, a grave violation of the principle of separation between politics and justice, and an overt attempt to strip the Rome Statute of its substance, effectively turning international justice into a hostage of political pressure and influence.

ICSPR stresses that this U.S. conduct reflects a stark double standard, undermines confidence in the international system based on accountability and the non-impunity for crimes, and sets an extremely dangerous precedent whereby perpetrators of grave crimes may evade justice if they enjoy political protection from influential powers.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) warns that the continuation of pressures, sanctions, and overt and covert threats against ICC judges and prosecutors constitutes a direct threat to the entire international justice system and erodes the trust of victims and affected communities in the possibility of obtaining justice through international mechanisms.

ICSPR calls on the international community, States Parties to the Rome Statute, the United Nations, the European Union, and all regional organizations to reject and condemn these repeated sanctions, and to take clear legal and political steps to protect the International Criminal Court, its judges, and its Prosecutor, to ensure the continuation of investigations, the enforcement of arrest warrants, and the issuance of further warrants against all those involved in committing genocide and war crimes in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory.