Today the Trump Administration issued sanctions against the entire International Criminal Court (ICC). These sanctions are a dramatic escalation in the effort to dismantle international law and human rights protections. This announcement follows earlier sanctions against individual ICC judges and prosecutors, as well as UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and three Palestinian human rights organizations. In August, AFSC and our partners filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration to stop the sanctions regime.
The ICC was established in 1998 – in part as a response to the genocides in Rwanda and Yugoslavia – to ensure accountability for future atrocities. The ICC is now the only independent court that prosecutes perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The U.S. is one of only a small number of countries that is not a member state. It is a critical part of global efforts to end impunity and uphold human rights.
As a Quaker organization, we believe that all people contain the Light of God within us, and that everyone deserves human rights, dignity, and access to justice. We must protect and strengthen the institutions that safeguard these rights. And we urge the international community to reject these sanctions and preserve and protect the ICC.
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The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.