The EU and the Hague Group must take action to protect the ICC against US attacks

4 September 2026 – 11 national human rights organisations from the Global North and Global South, urge the international community to step up action to protect the International Criminal Court from attacks by the Trump Administration, following new US sanctions on ICC judges.

In letters to the European Commission and to the Hague Group, INCLO members from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe call on states to take stronger legal and diplomatic action against the campaign launched by the United States. New sanctions on ICC judges, combined with US pressure on states to leave the Rome Statute, represent an escalating threat to the Court and to multilateralism that must be confronted.

The letters call on the European Union and the Hague Group to:

Launch a coordinated diplomatic push to stop other countries from withdrawing from the Rome Statute.
Activate blocking legislation to shield individuals and organisations already hit by US sanctions.
Work with banks and payment processors so they don’t pre-emptively cut off ICC staff, judges, or partner NGOs, and help set up real banking alternatives for those affected.
Consistently and publicly condemn sanctions against civil society groups that work with the ICC, not just those against its judges and staff.

In parallel, ICCL wrote to Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Helen McEntee, urging Ireland to use its EU Council Presidency to make protecting the ICC a priority for the bloc, ahead of an informal meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Wicklow on 1–2 September.

We have seen over the past year how US sanctions hit Palestinian civil society organizations working with the ICC, cutting off their access to financial and payment services and threatening their survival. Lucila Santos, Director of INCLO, said:

“The goal of the sanctions against civil society is clear – to intimidate any human rights group pursuing international justice, anywhere in the world. Member states need to recognise this and put the protection of civil society front and center of their actions on the ICC.”

In this sense, we echo the concerns expressed last week in the UN expert joint letter demanding bold action from ICC member states against the new US sanctions and we reiterate our call for the protection of civil society organisations collaborating with the ICC as well.

As national human rights organisations working across every region, INCLO members believe that defending the multilateral system and international rule of law is a shared responsibility that the Global North and Global South must carry together.

ENDS