Criminalizing Accountability: The US lawfare against the international justice system

Following the sanctions on the ICC by the US administration, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court has produced a report measuring the impact of the sanctions. 

Centred around the voices of those affected, the CICC Secretariat interviewed all individuals and organizations that were designated under EO 14203. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the US administration’s new wave of sanctions and its impact on the individuals and institutions that were targeted and, more broadly, on victims, justice and the rule of law.

While those affected by the US sanctions have all shown resilience and determination to continue their work undeterred and limit disruptions, they have largely been left to do so without the needed collective backing of states and global institutions. The impact of sanctions goes beyond those directly targeted; they seek to deter the broader justice community, including US and non-US based civil society, from their work and send a clear message to survivors: crimes committed by powerful states should remain unpunished. 

The report describes the impact of the sanctions on the entire Rome Statute system, and the legal and institutional frameworks and actions that states and global institutions should urgently activate to help resist such attacks and shield those affected.

Expected outcomes

This launch event will culminate in a 'Call to Action' urging States Parties to adopt concrete and adequate response to these attacks.

Specifically, the launch will call on ICC States Parties to: 

• Adopt or activate blocking legislation that neutralize the extra-territorial effects of sanctions targeting ICC officials and cooperating NGOs
• Engage directly with service providers to prevent over compliance and ensure the continuity of the work of those designated
• Provide concrete diplomatic, legal and operational support to sanctioned individuals and organizations to ensure continuity of their mandates

Programme

18:00-18:05 Welcome - Alison Smith, Director CICC
18:05-18:10 Sanctions and the freedoms of academics? - Dr Jeff Handmaker, Associate Professor of Legal Sociology, Institute of Social Studies, on behalf of the Legal Mobilization Platform
18:10-18:20 Presentation of the Report’s findings - Zoe Paris, Advocacy Coordinator
18:20-18:30 The Targeted Judiciary: A Defiant Court - on the personal reality of being targeted by sanctions or criminal conviction while continuing to investigate, prosecute or preside over cases
18:30-18:40 The Expanded Net: Sanctions Overreach - Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the OPT on what it means to be sanctioned for the exercise of a UN HRC mandate, in violation of UN treaty obligations
18:40-19:10 The Ground Reality: Impact on Human Rights Documentation - Al-Haq, Al Mezan, PCHR – Three coordinated interventions on what sanctions mean for victim documentation, organizational survival and access to justice in a hostile political and operational environment
19:10-19:20 Response from states and the EU
19:20-19:30 Q&A - Moderated by Alison Smith, Director CICC
19:30-19:35 Closing remarks