Letter to Congress and the Trump Administration regarding ICC sanctions
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Operation Broken Silence is joining 75 organizations in expressing grave concerns and to unequivocally oppose the use of the sanctions authority of the United States to cripple the International Criminal Court (ICC), an independent judicial institution dedicated to combating impunity for the gravest crimes known to humanity.
What does this mean?
Recent reports suggest the new Congress will include sanctions against the ICC in its first legislative action, the House Rules Package. The future of that legislation is uncertain, but the incoming Trump Administration has also given indications of sanctions through the threat of Executive Orders.
The ICC performs a critical role by investigating the worst international crimes and those accused of committing them. It does so in a manner that protects the due process rights of the accused, the sovereignty of states —including the United States— and the rights of victims. Supporting the work of the Court is in the interest of the United States, while sanctioning it undermines core aspects of American foreign policy.
Known as the world’s “court of last resort,” the ICC has already been recognized as playing a positive role in previous bipartisan support for investigations into war crimes allegedly perpetrated by Russian officials in Ukraine, attempts to bring justice for victims of human rights violations in Myanmar, and as a pathway to accountability for perpetrators of atrocities in Sudan.
Sudan is currently home to the world’s largest human rights and humanitarian catastrophe. Since April 2023, extreme violence between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has all but destroyed the country. Mass atrocities, gross human rights violations, and manmade famine have forcibly displaced more than 15 million people. There is mounting evidence that the RSF has committed crimes that meet the high legal threshold of genocide. Over half the country is in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, with a handful of areas having descended into full-blown famine months ago.
The United Nations Security Council referred the situation in Darfur, Sudan to the ICC in March 2005. The Court exercises jurisdiction over such crimes committed in western Sudan since July 1, 2002. As we have previously noted, the ICC’s investigations in Sudan not only remain ongoing, but stands to benefit from closer cooperation with the U.S. government. The State Department’s recent genocide determination suggests the U.S. government has hard evidence of atrocity crimes that could greatly assist the Court.
U.S. sanctions tools designed to penalize gross violators of human rights should not be used to contribute to their continued impunity. Sanctions send a signal that could embolden authoritarian regimes and others with reason to fear accountability who seek to evade justice. It is essential that the United States answer any allegation of wrongdoing in a manner that does not betray the cause of global justice, abandon international cooperation, or compromise support for human dignity and rights.
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Operation Broken Silence is joining 75 organizations in expressing grave concerns and to unequivocally oppose the use of the sanctions authority of the United States to cripple the International Criminal Court (ICC). https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-congress-and-the-trump-administration-regarding-icc-sanctions
Reports suggest the new Congress will include sanctions against the ICC in its first legislative action. The incoming Trump Administration has also given indications of sanctions through the threat of Executive Orders. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-congress-and-the-trump-administration-regarding-icc-sanctions
U.S. sanctions tools designed to penalize gross violators of human rights should not be used to contribute to their continued impunity. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-congress-and-the-trump-administration-regarding-icc-sanctions
