ICSPR: US Sanctions against the International Criminal Court Are a Systematic Attempt to Undermine International Justice and Shield Israel from Accountability

Date: 10 October 2026

Press Statement

ICSPR: US Sanctions against the International Criminal Court Are a Systematic Attempt to Undermine International Justice and Shield Israel from Accountability

The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR) condemns in the strongest terms the US administration’s decision to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court as an international judicial institution. This dangerous escalation targets the independence of international justice and threatens the Court’s ability to fulfil its mandate to investigate and prosecute the gravest crimes of concern to the international community. This measure represents another stage in an escalating pattern of US pressure, threats, and sanctions targeting the Court’s judges, officials, and those cooperating with it, culminating in the expansion of these measures to target the institution itself. It constitutes an attempt to impose a political will on judicial proceedings governed by international law and the Rome Statute.

ICSPR considers that this escalation cannot be separated from the political and judicial context surrounding the situation in Palestine, particularly following the International Criminal Court’s issuance, on 21 November 2024, of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Targeting the Court for exercising its jurisdiction constitutes an assault on the principle of judicial independence, undermines the essence of the Rome Statute and the principle of equality before the law, and seeks to entrench a reality in which powerful actors and officials accused of international crimes receive political protection while victims are denied redress.

The Commission considers that the connection between US sanctions and the Court’s proceedings and investigations concerning Israeli officials, together with the US administration’s stated justifications for targeting the Court and its officials, raises serious concerns about the use of political and economic influence to interfere with international accountability processes and shield those accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity from the consequences of judicial proceedings.

ICSPR stresses that the latest sanctions do not occur in isolation from earlier US measures targeting individuals working within the international justice system. On 6 February 2025, the US administration issued Executive Order 14203, which authorised sanctions against persons associated with the International Criminal Court. This was followed by measures targeting the Court’s judges and officials, including former Prosecutor Karim Khan. In July 2025, sanctions were also imposed on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.

This approach also extended to Palestinian human rights organisations, which were subjected to US sanctions in September 2025 in connection with their human rights work and cooperation with the Court regarding the situation in Palestine.

ICSPR considers that the expansion of these measures—from judges and officials to UN experts and Palestinian human rights organisations, and subsequently to the Court as an institution—reveals dangers extending beyond objections to particular judicial proceedings. These measures threaten the international environment that enables the documentation of crimes, the collection of evidence, and cooperation with the International Criminal Court and other mechanisms of justice and accountability. They also send an intimidating message to human rights defenders, witnesses, experts, and institutions seeking redress for victims through legitimate legal means.

The Commission warns that the effects of sanctions are not limited to the individuals and entities directly targeted. They may also affect access to banking, technological, and professional services, as well as the Court’s ability to manage investigations, preserve evidence, and communicate with witnesses and those cooperating with it. Sanctions may also discourage institutions and individuals from cooperating with the Court for fear of being sanctioned or losing access to financial services, adversely affecting victims’ rights to truth, justice, accountability, and reparations.

ICSPR affirms that disagreement with the Court’s jurisdiction or decisions does not justify sanctioning its judges, prosecutors, or staff. Questions of jurisdiction, admissibility, and challenges to proceedings must be resolved under the Rome Statute, the relevant legal rules, and established judicial mechanisms—not through unlawful economic sanctions or political threats.

The Commission considers that the situation in Palestine represents a fundamental test of the credibility of the International Criminal Court and the international system for combating impunity. Protecting the Court’s independence requires ensuring its ability to apply the law without selectivity or pressure to all persons and crimes within its jurisdiction, regardless of the accused persons’ nationalities, political positions, or the alliances protecting them.

In this context, successive US measures targeting the Court, its officials, and the human rights organisations cooperating with it, alongside Israeli objections to the Court’s proceedings concerning the situation in Palestine, raise serious concerns about weakening prospects for accountability for international crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

ICSPR affirms that international criminal responsibility must not be subject to power dynamics or constrained by political considerations. Shielding any party from accountability because of its influence undermines the principle of equality before the law and threatens confidence in the international justice system.

The Commission further warns that undermining the Court or intimidating its personnel may encourage perpetrators of international crimes to believe that political protection can obstruct accountability. It also weakens the confidence of victims and affected communities in the effectiveness of international legal mechanisms.

Protecting the Court is therefore not an institutional issue separate from Palestinian rights. It is an essential condition for preserving avenues of accountability for crimes committed against Palestinians and ensuring that political and economic power does not become a means of closing the doors to justice.

ICSPR welcomes international positions rejecting US sanctions and supporting the independence of the International Criminal Court, foremost among them the position of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who expressed grave concern about the potential implications of these measures for the Court’s ability to continue fulfilling its mandate, including in situations referred to it by the UN Security Council and States Parties. The Commission also commends the position of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who called for immediate measures to protect the Court and its independence.

The Commission commends the joint statement issued by Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, which affirmed support for the Court’s independence and integrity, rejected US sanctions, and warned of their potential consequences for the Court, its staff, and their families. ICSPR also welcomes Belgium’s position condemning the sanctions and calling for the activation of European protective instruments, including consideration of legal mechanisms to limit the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions.

ICSPR further commends Switzerland’s stated support for the independence of the International Criminal Court and its rejection of measures that undermine the Court’s impartiality and integrity. It stresses the importance of translating this support into tangible measures that protect the Court and ensure that it continues operating without political or economic pressure. The Commission also highlights the importance of Spain’s positions opposing the targeting of Court officials, alongside other international and human rights positions supporting the independence of international criminal justice.

The Commission considers that the widening circle of international support reflects an understanding of the importance of protecting the Court as a pillar of the international criminal justice system. However, this support will not be sufficient unless it is translated into enforceable political, legal, financial, and institutional commitments. Condemnations alone do not prevent the practical effects of sanctions, ensure the continuity of the banking, technological, and professional services the Court requires, or necessarily provide adequate protection for its judges, staff, and those cooperating with it.

This requires the states that have rejected the sanctions, the United Nations, States Parties to the Rome Statute, and the European Union to coordinate a collective response that protects the Court from intimidation and retaliation, ensures the continuity of its resources and professional, technological, and financial relationships, and prevents unilateral sanctions from becoming a tool for obstructing international accountability.

Accordingly, the International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR) calls for the following:

1. The US administration must immediately rescind the sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court and its officials; halt measures targeting the Court’s judges, prosecutors, and staff or obstructing the performance of their duties; and end the use of sanctions and political and economic threats to influence international justice processes or shield any individual from accountability for international crimes.

2. The United Nations and States Parties to the Rome Statute must take coordinated legal, diplomatic, and financial measures to protect the Court’s independence and ensure that it continues to fulfil its mandate. They must strengthen cooperation with the Court and fulfil the obligations of States Parties under the Statute, including cooperation with the Court and the implementation of its decisions and orders in accordance with the law.

3. The European Union and states opposing the sanctions must move beyond declarations of position to practical measures that limit the sanctions’ direct and indirect effects. These measures should include examining the activation of available legal protections, including European mechanisms protecting against the extraterritorial effects of foreign sanctions; ensuring the continuity of the banking, technological, and professional services necessary for the Court’s work; and preventing entities under their jurisdiction from obstructing the Court’s work because of external pressure.

4. International and human rights institutions, the banking sector, and relevant professional bodies must develop practical mechanisms enabling the Court, its staff, UN experts, and Palestinian civil society organisations to continue carrying out their legitimate duties. These mechanisms must reduce the risks of exclusion from financial and technological services and provide protection against threats or retaliation for Palestinian human rights organisations, human rights defenders, witnesses, experts, and those cooperating with international accountability mechanisms.

5. The international community must reject double standards, uphold the principle of ending impunity, and ensure that the political or economic influence of any state including the United States and its allies—does not become a shield against responsibility for international crimes. ICSPR also calls on states to take effective legal and diplomatic measures to address crimes committed against the Palestinian people and hold those responsible accountable under international law, including reviewing cooperation arrangements that contribute to continuing violations, in accordance with the relevant legal obligations.

6. The International Criminal Court must continue to fulfil its mandate independently, with integrity and impartiality, and continue examining all crimes within its jurisdiction, including those committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, without yielding to political or economic pressure, while safeguarding victims’ rights to truth, justice, accountability, and reparations.

In conclusion, ICSPR stresses that protecting the International Criminal Court goes beyond defending a particular institution. It is a defence of victims’ right to justice, the principle of equality before the law, and the capacity of the international legal system to confront the gravest crimes without selectivity or discrimination.

The international community’s test today is not whether it declares its commitment to justice when doing so carries no political cost, but whether it is prepared to protect justice when it comes under threat and when its proceedings reach officials surrounded by political protection. The Court must not be strong in confronting the weak and powerless in confronting the powerful. Sanctions must not become a means of punishing those who apply the law instead of holding accountable those suspected of committing crimes.

US-Israeli sanctions do not erase crimes, threats do not extinguish victims’ rights, and political power does not confer immunity from international criminal responsibility. The independence of the International Criminal Court is not a privilege for judges, but a safeguard for victims and the international community as a whole. Protecting it from intimidation and retaliation is a shared international responsibility, so that political and economic alliances do not become a licence to evade accountability for the gravest crimes affecting humanity as a whole.