United States: Halt sanctions against Council Special Procedures, ICC jurists and human rights defenders | Joint Statement to the UN Human Rights Council 

25/09/2025

Full pdf joint statement | Watch on UN WebTV at 2:52:14


Organization: Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
Item: Item 5: General Debate
Date: 25 September 2025
Speaker: Catherine Morris

Oral Statement to the 60th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, the International Bar Association, and The Law Society, NGOs in special consultative status, with endorsement by Judges for Judges, NGO without consultative status

United States: Halt sanctions against Council Special Procedures, ICC jurists and human rights defenders  

Mr. President,

Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, and the Law Society of England and Wales, with endorsement by Judges for Judges, condemn the unlawful sanctions imposed by the United States against jurists conducting their duties mandated by the Human Rights Council’s Special Procedures, the International Criminal Court, and human rights organizations investigating and documenting atrocity crimes.

The US sanctions constitute a flagrant attempt to thwart accountability for alleged perpetrators of atrocity crimes and to withhold justice from millions of victims of appalling atrocities in several countries.

Sanctions against the Council’s mandate holders violate the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. Sanctions against ICC judges and prosecutors violate Article 70 of the Rome Statute. The US sanctions also create a chilling climate for lawyers and human rights defenders cooperating with the Council’s Special Procedures and the ICC and violate US obligations under international human rights law and standards.

We call on all Council members and observer States:

  • To urge the United States to halt all reprisals against UN Special Procedures, ICC personnel, and human rights defenders; and
  • To take firm, unequivocal stands and measures to condemn the sanctions, including implementation of laws to block their effects against those unlawfully sanctioned.

Thank you.

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