Press Release
Published on October 9, 2026
Human Rights First condemns the Trump administration’s announcement of unprecedented sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), imposed largely in retaliation for the Court’s investigations into alleged crimes in Afghanistan and Palestine. The sanctions will cut off the Court from much of the global financial system and jeopardize its work to investigate and prosecute war crimes and atrocities within its treaty mandate, including investigations and prosecutions that the U.S. government has supported.
“The Trump administration is attempting to destroy the International Criminal Court as part of their all-out campaign to advance impunity, at home and abroad,” said Uzra Zeya, President and CEO of Human Rights First. “Under the guise of protecting American sovereignty, the U.S. government is trying to undermine decades of global efforts to ensure victims of atrocities in places like Gaza, Ukraine, the Philippines, Darfur, and Afghanistan can see their abusers brought to justice.”
Today’s action is the latest in a series of escalating moves against the Court by the Trump administration, beginning with the creation of the sanctions program targeting ICC officials in February 2025. Since then, 13 ICC officials have been sanctioned for their connections with investigations relating to Afghanistan and Palestine that implicate U.S. and Israeli officials. Those sanctioned include ten judges, one of whom is the president of the Court; two deputy prosecutors; and the former chief prosecutor.
“Sanctioning ICC judges, officials, and now the Court itself for carrying out its duties is a shocking attack on the rule of law, and part of a disturbing pattern by the Trump administration of punishing and sanctioning judges and those investigating or ruling against its political allies,” said Amanda Strayer, Senior Counsel for Accountability at Human Rights First. “These sanctions betray a global commitment, since Nuremberg, that alleged violators of international law must be investigated and held accountable in a court of law. The victims and survivors who have looked to the Court to uphold that promise may now have no means to achieve any justice.”
The Trump administration has also wielded sanctions broadly to target those advocating for the ICC to investigate crimes in Gaza, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese and three Palestinian human rights organizations. These sanctions have sent a chilling message to activists and advocacy organizations, especially those that document and provide evidence of atrocities to the Court to support investigations and prosecutions.
Human Rights First has filed an amicus brief in a federal lawsuit brought by several U.S.-based human rights organizations challenging the ICC sanctions program as an unconstitutional infringement on their First Amendment protections for speech, association, and religious freedom.
“There is no legitimate basis legally or factually to treat international human rights groups like terrorists just because they advocate for Palestinians or to bar Americans from working with those groups,” said Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, Special Counsel at Human Rights First.
Today’s sanctions will impose immediate challenges for the ICC and its ability to carry out its mission. Aside from limited transactions authorized by licenses issued by the Treasury Department, U.S. persons will no longer be able to work for the Court, or generally provide any services or support to the Court without risking civil or criminal penalties after a six-month wind-down period, even though the Trump administration has expressly permitted it previously. Likewise, U.S. companies, several of which have provided general services related to the ICC’s operations, will generally be blocked from engaging in business transactions with the Court after the wind-down period, with limited exceptions.
Since the Trump administration announced a new campaign to “dismantle” the ICC in July, six ICC Member States, including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, Venezuela, and Naoero, have announced their intention to withdraw from the Rome Statute, following U.S. pressure. These withdrawals could diminish the Court’s future jurisdiction, particularly with respect to ongoing investigations in Venezuela and Mali, as well as sources of funding.
For more on Human Rights First’s advocacy related to the International Criminal Court, see our website here.
