Safeguarding International Justice: States, UN Experts and Human Rights Defenders convene at the UN to call for concrete action to safeguard international justice

24 March 2026

Geneva, Switzerland, 24 March 2026. A high-level side event held at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva brought together States, international justice actors and civil society organisations to address the growing use of sanctions and coercive measures targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) and those supporting its mandate. Hosted by Colombia, the State of Palestine, Slovenia, Spain and South Africa, and organised by No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), the Coalition for the ICC (CICC), Al-Haq, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), the event issued a strong and unified call for concrete and immediate legal, financial and political measures to safeguard the independence and functioning of the international justice system. 

 

Escalating attacks against the International Justice Ecosystem

The event took place against the backdrop of an unprecedented escalation of coercive measures targeting the ICC and the wider international justice ecosystem, including financial sanctions, asset freezes and criminal convictions issued against senior officials. Most recently, the United States (US) administration imposed sanctions against  ICC officials, including judges and deputy prosecutors, but also UN mandate holders, and leading Palestinian human rights organisations, including Al-Haq, Al Mezan, PCHR, and, under a separate sanction programme, Addameer.

“Such measures constitute a direct assault on the Court’s independence and ultimately impair victims’ right to justice. Continued attempts by the US to isolate the Court and unjustifiably punish those in support of it set a dangerous precedent that chills civic engagement and threatens the integrity of the international justice system itself”, underlined the Director of Al Mezan, Mr Issam Younis.

Speakers warned that the increasing use of coercive measures is already having tangible operational consequences, restricting access to banking, travel, insurance and digital infrastructure:

“Within days, banks cut off our access to our accounts. US funding stopped overnight. Non‑US funders, citing risk assessments, also stopped funding. Staff could not be paid. Our advocacy and litigation were affected, bringing many work streams to a halt. Colleagues with US citizenship, including senior staff who had worked at Al-Haq for decades, resigned with immediate effect,” stressed Ms Susan Power, Head of Legal Research and Advocacy at Al-Haq.

For Al Mezan, for example, “YouTube shut down [the organisational] accounts without warning, permanently deleting hundreds of videos and documentation and testimonies”, stated Issam Younis.

“The personal impact of sanctions is impairing”, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Ms Francesca Albanese emphasised. “You cannot function as an individual anymore. You are a dependent. I have less autonomy than my 13-year-old child… just for writing reports to the United Nations. I am checked everywhere I go because the OFAC sanctions create a sense of culpability around us; the system, especially in Western countries, is alerted. You see a UN independent expert, but in fact, for the system that collects our data, I am no more or less than a narcotrafficker, a drug dealer, or a terrorist that has been designated by the United States.”

“Because of the world's structural dependency on US banking, financial system, IT, and service sectors, in practice, sanctions have extreme extra-territorial reach all around the world, way beyond the US. We are talking about human rights defenders treated like perpetrators of mass atrocities”, highlighted Ms Zoé Paris, Advocacy Coordinator of the Coalition of the ICC. 

 

A growing threat to the Rule of Law and victims’ access to justice

Speakers stressed that these constraints are not merely administrative, but pose a broader threat to the rule of law and the effective functioning of international accountability mechanisms, and, above all, threaten the rights of millions of victims and survivors of international crimes. 

Mr Issam Younis, Director of Al Mezan, asserted that sanctioning organisations which work to support accountability “strikes at the very foundation of the rule of law” and is “intended to intimidate those defending victims’ rights, as well as victims themselves.” 

The Founder and Director of PCHR, Raji Sourani, maintained that coercive measures are intended to paralyse accountability efforts. He also warned that the chilling effect of sanctions can spread.

Sanctioning those who pursue justice sends a troubling signal to victims: that power, not law, dictates who is entitled to justice. Such measures set a dangerous precedent for victims worldwide.

“We would be very short-sighted if we think this is related to Palestine, this is related to Gaza. This is not. This is the new world order. And that’s why the states who still believe in the rule of law and accountability, in the shared human values of the ICC and of the ICJ, must stand and defend all these principles”.

 

Solidarity alone is not enough: States must act

Despite mounting pressures, speakers underscored the resilience and continued determination of the ICC and those supporting it to fulfil its mandate. However, they stressed that solidarity alone cannot sustain international justice in the face of sustained coercive pressure.

Speakers emphasised that active, coordinated support from States for all sanctioned individuals and entities, applied equally, independent of their nationality, is essential. Without it, the Court and the wider accountability ecosystem risk being unable to operate independently and effectively.

The event culminated in a call to action urging the UN Human Rights Council and States to adopt concrete countermeasures, including legislation modelled on Blocking Statutes (such as the EU's 1996 regulation) to mitigate the domestic effect of extraterritorial sanctions against the Court and designated NGOs.

Specifically, the panel called on ICC States Parties and the HRC to:

  • Adopt or support blocking statutes that neutralise the domestic legal effect of extraterritorial sanctions targeting ICC officials, cooperating NGOs and UN mandate holders;

  • Provide concrete diplomatic, legal and operational support to sanctioned individuals and organisations to ensure continuity of their mandates, for instance, by engaging with banks, financial institutions and tech companies to prevent over-compliance;

  • Affirm the inviolability of the Rome Statute system, the protection of those working within it, and their support for the ICC and those supporting it.

“States have set up the system and elected the individuals to perform the duties for which they are now paying a heavy price, so there is a responsibility on all state parties to step up”, stressed the CICC’s Zoé Paris. “States have the ability and duty to protect the Court and those cooperating with it. As CSOs we will continue our work, we remain steady, undeterred and united.”

Watch the event recording

 

About the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC): The Coalition for the International Criminal Court is a global network of over 2,500 civil society organisations working to strengthen international cooperation with the ICC and ensure justice for victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. For more information, visit: https://coalitionfortheicc.org/ 

About No Peace Without Justice: No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) is an international non-profit organisation that works for the protection and promotion of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and international justice. For more information, visit: https://www.npwj.org/

About Al-Haq: Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian human rights organisation that seeks to promote Palestinian people's human rights, defend them and enhance the rule of law and the culture and values of human rights according to the principles of international human rights and humanitarian laws, and fight impunity through holding perpetrators of violations of these laws accountable irrespective of their nationality. For more information, visit: https://www.alhaq.org/

About the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Al Mezan): Al Mezan Center for Human Rights is an independent, non-partisan, non-governmental human rights organisation based in the occupied Gaza Strip. Since its establishment in 1999, Al Mezan has been dedicated to protecting and promoting the respect of human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights, supporting victims of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and enhancing democracy, community and citizen participation, and respect for the rule of law in Gaza as part of the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). For more information, visit: https://www.mezan.org/en

About the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR): The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is an independent Palestinian human rights organisation established in 1995 by a group of Palestinian lawyers and human rights activists in order to (1) Protect human rights and promote the rule of law in accordance with international standards; (2) Create and develop democratic institutions and an active civil society, while promoting democratic culture within Palestinian society; and (3) Support all the efforts aimed at enabling the Palestinian people to exercise its inalienable rights in regard to self-determination and independence in accordance with international Law and UN resolutions. For more information, visit: https://pchrgaza.org/ 

 

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