Human Rights First Condemns Calls for Sanctions in Response to Israel Arrest Warrants

The International Criminal Court (ICC) yesterday issued arrest warrants against Israel’s prime minister, its former defense minister, and a Hamas leader whose reported death is not yet confirmed.  Human Rights First demands that the United States refrain from attacking the court with sanctions, as many U.S. legislators and officials of the incoming U.S. administration have threatened to do.

“Imposing sanctions on the ICC or its officials would be a gross misuse of U.S. sanctions authorities,” said Adam Keith, Senior Director of Accountability at Human Rights First.  “Doing so would damage U.S. relations with its closest allies, effectively criminalize basic forms of human rights advocacy, and jeopardize the ICC’s ability to provide justice for victims – not just in the court’s Palestine investigation but situations ranging from Darfur and Venezuela to the Philippines and Ukraine.”

The ICC’s warrant against the Hamas leader focuses on the killing of Israeli civilians in the October 7, 2023 attacks and the abduction, torture, and rape of civilian hostages.  The warrants against the two Israeli officials focus on the starvation and deprivation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza in the course of Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks.

“As U.S. officials and legislators have acknowledged in other contexts, an international court is an essential backstop when governments fail to provide justice for victims of serious crimes,” Keith said.  “That is no less the case when a U.S. security partner is the alleged perpetrator.”