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US sanctions against UN Special Procedures and International Criminal Court judges and officials violate human rights, betray victims and undermine justice and the rule of law.
ISHR condemns and calls for the reversal of sanctions announced by the Trump Administration against UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, as well as judges and officials of the International Criminal Court.
Such sanctions violate international human rights law, betray victims of gross human rights abuses, provide impunity to perpetrators, and amount to an unlawful interference in the administration of justice. Such sanctions also amount to illegal reprisals.
ISHR welcomes the unequivocal condemnation of such sanctions and reprisals by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the President of the UN Human Rights Council, the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures and Al-Haq, among others.
We call on all States with a commitment to human rights and the international rule of law to take concrete measures in response to the US sanctions. Such measures should include the implementation of blocking statutes, a refusal to support or acquiesce in any way in the implementation of the illegal US sanctions, and the enactment of counter measures against US officials in line with Article 70 of the Rome Statute (Offences against the administration of justice).
States should also fully cooperate, comply with and implement warrants and orders of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. This is necessary to uphold the rule of law, avoid selectivity and double standards, and stand up against intimidation, illegality and lawlessness, in Israel, the United States and globally.
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