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Monday, September 28, 2026
  • ESCR-Net joins 37 other civil society organizations in an amicus curiae brief supporting a legal challenge to US sanctions against the ICC, a UN human rights expert, and three Palestinian human rights organizations.
  • The brief argues that the sanctions interfere with freedom of expression and association and disrupt civil society’s role in international justice.
  • It documents impacts extending beyond sanctioned entities, affecting civil society collaboration and access to justice for victims and survivors.

 

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Pro-Palestine demonstrations held outside the International Criminal Court headquarters in the Hague.

ESCR-Net has joined 37 other civil society organizations in filing an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in a lawsuit challenging US sanctions imposed under Executive Order 14203 against the International Criminal Court (ICC), the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and three Palestinian human rights organizations.

The lawsuit was filed before the US District Court for the Southern District of New York by the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Institute.

The brief addresses the effects of the sanctions imposed by the US Administration on civil society, victims and survivors, and the international justice system.

What does the amicus brief argue?

These consequences are, at their core, consequences for civil society’s capacity to connect victims to justice.
— Excerpt from the amicus curiae brief

The brief provides the Court with evidence of how the sanctions affect civil society organizations involved in international justice, including Palestinian human rights organizations documenting alleged international crimes and connecting victims/survivors, witnesses, and affected communities with accountability mechanisms.

It documents consequences that extend well beyond those formally sanctioned entities and individuals. Legal uncertainty and the risk of penalties have led organizations to seek legal advice, change internal policies and, in some cases, withdraw from activities or partnerships. According to the brief, the sanctions are fragmenting transnational civil society networks and creating a chilling effect on human rights organizations and defenders engaged in international justice work.

The brief places particular emphasis on what this means for access to justice. Civil society organizations have taken on a key role in connecting victims and international accountability mechanisms in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by documenting and preserving evidence, providing legal and contextual expertise, and supporting the participation of victims and survivors in the pursuit of justice and reparations. In places where the ICC has limited access, including the Occupied Palestinian Territory, these organizations can provide a critical connection to victims/survivors and witnesses.

As the brief explains, when sanctions sever these channels, “victims and survivors lose access to the people and organizations they have come to trust”, as well as information about proceedings, assistance in asserting their fundamental human rights, and reliable routes to the ICC.

The 38 CSOs filing the brief are (in alphabetical order):

1.    Action for the Reform of Justice and Promotion of Human Rights (ARJPDH)

2.    Amnesty International

3.    Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP)

4.    Arab Coalition for the International Criminal Court (ACICC)

5.    Baltasar Garzón International Foundation (FIBGAR)

6.    Center for Development of International Law (CDIL)

7.    Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA)

8.    Centre marocain pour la loi et la paix

9.    Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CIPRODEH)

10.   Chinese Initiative on International Law (CIIL)

11.   Clinique de droit international pénal et humanitaire, Faculté de droit, Université Laval (CDIPH)

12.   COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peacebuilding-Nigeria

13.   Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights

14.   Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)

15.   European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)

16.   Global Justice Center

17.   Human Rights Now

18.   HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement

19.   Indonesian Legal Aid Association for Women (APIK)

20.   International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

21.   International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net)

22.   Just Access

23.   Kurdish Organizations Network Coalition for the International Criminal Court (KONCICC)

24.   Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada

25.   Libya Crimes Watch (LCW)

26.   No Peace Without Justice

27.   The Nuhanovic Foundation

28.   Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)

29.   Platform for Peace and Humanity

30.   Refugees in Libya

31.   Rights for Peace

32.   Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center

33.   StoptheDrugWar.org

34.   Students for Global Democracy Uganda

35.   Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

36.   Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice

37.   World Organization Against Torture (OMCT)

38.   World Without Genocide

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