UN Rapporteur Calls on US to Revoke Sanctions Targeting ICC Officials
The statement came after a fresh round of sanctions on December 18, which increased the total number of sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors to ten.
“Sanctions targeting ICC justice personnel strike at the very heart of the promise born of the Rome Statute and the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials: a foundational pledge that no atrocity would go unanswered by international justice,” said Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN special rapporteur.
Ahead of the opening of the ICC’s judicial year, Satterthwaite called for renewed political and financial backing for the court, warning that “Sanctions send a chilling message to victims of atrocities and their advocates, who rely on judges and prosecutors for accountability, repair and reparation.”
She also highlighted concerns over sanctions affecting nongovernmental organizations and the potential fear of punishment for victims under the US sanctions regime, which in some cases includes civil and criminal penalties, including imprisonment.
“Judges, prosecutors and all those engaged in the enforcement of the rule of law and accountability for international crimes must not be subjected to intimidation, reprisals or punishment for carrying out their professional duties,” she said. “Threats of prosecution, or administrative, economic or other coercive measures targeting them for the legitimate exercise of their functions, are an unacceptable assault on judicial independence, a deliberate obstruction of justice, and a grave threat to the rule of law and international accountability.”
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