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80+ Groups Urge Congress, Trump to Reconsider Sanctions on ICC
"It would be a terrible irony if a tool designed to penalize gross violators of human rights could instead contribute to their continued impunity."
Jan 06, 2025
Scores of advocacy groups on Monday published a joint open letter decrying proposed U.S. legislation targeting the International Criminal Court with sanctions in retaliation for the tribunal's recent issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The Washington Working Group on the International Criminal Court published the letter—which has been signed by over 80 groups as of Monday afternoon—stressing that "the ICC performs a vital role in international affairs by investigating the worst international crimes that shock the collective conscience of humanity and investigating those accused of committing those crimes."
"The positive role of the ICC has been recognized through previous bipartisan support."
"It does so in a manner that protects the due process rights of the accused, the sovereignty of states, including the United States, and the rights of victims," the letter asserts. "As has been widely observed, supporting the work of the court is in the interest of the United States, and sanctioning it, conversely, undermines important U.S. interests."
"The positive role of the ICC has been recognized through previous bipartisan support for investigations into war crimes allegedly perpetrated by Russian officials in the Ukraine conflict... attempts to bring justice for the victims of gross human rights violations in Myanmar, and as a pathway to accountability for perpetrators of atrocities in Sudan," the letter adds.
On Friday far-right Congressmen Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.) introduced H.R. 23, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which would "impose sanctions with respect to the International Criminal Court engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies."
The bill, which was fast-tracked by the 119th House rules package, was initially approved last June by the Republican-controlled lower chamber with the support of 42 Democratic lawmakers. However, the measure failed to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate. Republicans now control both houses of Congress.
"As human rights, legal, and faith-based organizations, the foundations of civil society, as well as individuals who have dedicated their careers to these causes, we decry attempts to attack an independent judicial institution and urge the 119th Congress and incoming administration to reconsider this misguided position," the letter's signers asserted.
Signatories include the ACLU, Al Haq, Amnesty International USA, Center for Constitutional Rights, Democracy for the Arab World Now, Human Rights Watch, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action, Physicians for Human Rights, and Veterans for Peace.
In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.
Outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican President-elect Donald Trump have both condemned the ICC's effort to arrest Israeli leaders, although Biden has spoken out against H.R. 23.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), Trump's pick for national security adviser, is a vocal supporter of Israel's 15-month assault on Gaza, which has left more than 165,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing. Waltz, who supports the sanctions bill, threatened a "strong response" to the tribunal's warrants.
The United States—which provides Israel with tens of billions of dollars in
armed aid and diplomatic cover—has reportedly worked with Israel to thwart the ICC's effort to arrest Israeli leaders.
Neither Israel or the U.S. are signatories to the
Rome Statute, the treaty underpinning the ICC. However, Palestine is a party to the treaty, and nonsignatories can be held liable for crimes committed there.
The U.S. has a decadeslong history of antagonism toward the ICC. Under the American Service Members' Protection Act—Bush administration-era legislation also known as the Hague Invasion Act—the president is authorized to use "all means necessary and appropriate" including military intervention to secure the release of American or allied personnel held by or on behalf of the ICC.
In 2019, Trump revoked the U.S. visa of then-ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda for trying to investigate alleged war crimes committed by American forces in Afghanistan. The following year, the Trump administration sanctioned Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, the court's prosecution jurisdiction division director at the time.
"At an historical moment when the global rule of law is under attack from multiple fronts, institutions like the International Criminal Court are needed more than ever to advance human rights protections and the universal goal of preventing future atrocities and advancing justice for victims," the new letter's signers argued.
"Instead, sanctions send a signal that could embolden authoritarian regimes and others with reason to fear accountability who seek to evade justice," the letter continues. "It is essential that the United States answer any allegation of wrongdoing in a manner that does not betray the cause of global justice, abandon international cooperation, or compromise support for human dignity and rights."
"It would be a terrible irony if a tool designed to penalize gross violators of human rights could instead contribute to their continued impunity," the letter concludes. "We urge other governments, members of Congress, and advocates for victims everywhere to raise their voices to oppose attacks on the independence and autonomy of international judicial institutions like the ICC. We invite allies of justice to join us in standing against these destructive measures."
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'The Right to Vote Is Under Attack' as House Republicans Pass SAVE Act
"Republicans want to throw up barriers because when people vote, they lose," said Congresswoman Summer Lee.
Jul 10, 2024
Democracy defenders on Wednesday said House Republicans' passage of a bill that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections is an attack on voting rights that underscores the need to pass comprehensive legislation to protect ballot access for all.
House lawmakers voted 221-198 in favor of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). Every Republican present voted for the bill; all but five House Democrats rejected it.
Republicans claim the bill is meant to fix the virtually nonexistent "problem" of noncitizen voter fraud. Critics accused GOP lawmakers of ulterior motives.
"When we say that the right to vote is under attack, we're not talking about hypotheticals. It is under attack right here, right now with this bill," Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) said on the House floor before Wednesday's vote. "Republicans want to throw up barriers because when people vote, they lose."
"Let me be clear: They don't want you to vote," Lee added. "They don't want to hear Black voices, brown voices, LBGTQIA+ voices, young voices. Our fundamental access to our democracy is being politicized. And this xenophobic attack that we're debating today will make it harder for Americans to vote."
Lee highlighted her recently introduced Right to Vote Act, "which would establish the first-ever affirmative federal voting rights guarantee, ensuring every citizen may exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot."
"This bill would enshrine people's right to vote and prohibit governments on all levels from restricting that right with bills like this one," she explained. "This bill is part of the Democrats' Freedom to Vote Act. And along with the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, these are the types of bills we should be bringing to the floor, not this nonsense."
Referring to presumptive Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump's 2020 conspiracy theory, Jonah Minkoff-Zern, co-director of the democracy campaign at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement that "The SAVE Act is the Big Lie in legislative form."
Calling out the House speaker, a Louisiana Republican, Minkoff-Zern stressed that "extremist members of Congress like Mike Johnson are acting in bad faith to stop people from voting. The xenophobic election claims that underpin this bill are not based on factual evidence," he continued.
"If Congress is serious about protecting democracy, it will immediately prioritize the Freedom to Vote Act and John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act—as well as the Native American Voting Rights Act and [District of Columbia] Statehood—which would ensure that the voices and votes of all voters are heard in our elections," he added. "Next week, people will join more than 80 events around the country to honor the legacy of Rep. John Lewis [D-Ga.] by demanding action on these bills."
In a Tuesday
piece referring to the far-right conspiracy theory that global elites are intentionally driving the demographic demise of nonwhite people in Western nations, Washington Post columnist Phillip Bump called the SAVE Act "Great Replacement Theory, now in legislation form."
"There's no evidence that noncitizen voting is a significant problem, much less a regular occurrence," Bump wrote. "The Heritage Foundation, which has for years been adamantly promoting the idea that voter fraud is rampant, has a database of demonstrated fraud. It includes fewer than 100 cases of noncitizen voting or voter registrations since 2002—a period during which more than 678 million votes were cast in presidential elections alone."
The bill will "make it harder for citizens to vote," which is "a central reason the League of Women Voters opposes the legislation," Bump asserted. "Require people to have documentation when they register to vote, and people without that documentation won't register—even if they're otherwise allowed to."
"Who are those people? Research published in January found that those without a valid driver's license are more likely to be young as well as nonwhite," he wrote. "They are often, in other words, people who lean Democratic."
"Win-win-win. Demonize immigrants, amplify the idea that elections are riddled with fraud, and make it harder for people who vote Democratic to vote," Bump added. "The SAVE Act is a neat little package of Republican interests."
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42 House Dems Help GOP Pass Bill Targeting ICC Officials Over Israel
The ACLU warned the legislation would "harm free speech protections" and "undermine the rule of law and the independence of the ICC."
Jun 04, 2024
Human rights defenders on Tuesday decried the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of a bill that would sanction International Criminal Court officials over the Hague tribunal's pursuit of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders—legislation critics warned would undermine the court's independence and could be weaponized to silence Americans' free speech.
House lawmakers voted 247-155 in favor of H.R. 8282, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. Forty-two pro-Israel Democrats joined all but two Republicans who voted "present" in approving the bill, which was sponsored by far-right Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).
"The idea that they would issue an arrest warrant for the prime minister of Israel, defense minister of Israel, at the time where they're fighting for their nation's very existence against the evil of Hamas as a proxy of Iran is unconscionable to us," said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), according toThe Hill. "And as I said a couple of weeks ago, the ICC has to be punished for this action."
However, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said on the House floor ahead of Tuesday's vote that "we need the ICC" because "in the last 241 days, thousands, thousands have been victims of unimaginable atrocities, and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's violations of international law have threatened the peace of the world."
Since October 7, when a massive attack by Hamas-led militants left more than 1,100 Israelis and foreign nationals dead and over 240 others hostages, Israeli forces have killed or injured upward of 130,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including at least 11,000 people who are missing and believed dead and buried beneath the rubble of hundreds of thousands of bombed-out buildings. Israel's forced displacement of around 2 million of Gaza's 2.3 million people and its famine-inducing siege have also been cited as evidence in a genocide case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said passing H.R. 8282 would fuel international allegations of U.S. hypocrisy.
"I am already being challenged to explain U.S. double standards every time I meet with representatives of foreign governments," McGovern said on the House floor ahead of the vote. "What better gift to China and Russia than for us to undermine the international rule of law."
The ACLU warned Tuesday in a letter to members of Congress that the bill "would harm free speech protections and the rule of law."
"This legislation raises serious First Amendment concerns, as it would chill U.S. persons from engaging in constitutionally protected speech under the threat of civil and criminal penalties" and "undermine the rule of law and the independence of the ICC," the group added.
The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), a Quaker organization,
said on social media Tuesday that sanctioning ICC officials "would undermine the court's independence and the global community's ability to uphold international law."
"Sanctions would obstruct support for other important ICC investigations, including into Russia's invasion of Ukraine," FCNL added. "This vital accountability mechanism must be allowed to impartially seek justice."
Last month, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking warrants to arrest Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged "crimes of causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict."
Khan is also seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Deif for alleged crimes including "extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape, and sexual assault in detention."
A panel of ICC judges will decide whether to issue the warrants.
Meanwhile, congressional leaders have invited Netanyahu to Washington, D.C. for the rare honor of addressing a joint session of Congress. The prime minister has reportedly accepted the invitation, although no date has been set for his speech.
U.S. President Joe Biden was accused of double standards for condemning the ICC's targeting of Israeli leaders—whose conduct is under investigation in the ICJ genocide case—while applauding its March 2023 arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova for alleged crimes committed during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The White House said Monday that it "strongly opposes" the ICC sanctions bill, but Biden has not said whether he would veto the legislation in the unlikely event it is taken up—and passed—by the Senate.
Tuesday's vote has already had consequences, as the youth-led progressive group Path to Progress said it would not endorse Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) as expected in their respective U.S. Senate races due to their approval of the bill.
This isn't the first time that Congress has targeted the ICC. In 2002, lawmakers passed and then-President George W. Bush signed the American Servicemembers Protection Act, also known as the Hague Invasion Act because it authorizes the president to use "all means necessary and appropriate" including military intervention to secure the release of American or allied personnel held by or on behalf of the ICC.
In 2020, the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump—who is expected to challenge Biden in November's election—imposed sanctions on then-ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, the court's prosecution jurisdiction division director, in retaliation for a probe of alleged war crimes committed by American troops in Afghanistan.
Last month, Khan condemned "all attempts to impede, intimidate, or improperly influence" ICC officials. Later in May, the Israeli media outlets +972 Magazine and Local Call, along with Britain's The Guardian, revealed that the head of the Mossad, Israel's main foreign intelligence agency, spent nearly a decade attempting to intimidate Bensouda into dropping an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes.
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