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DAWN Statement on Bill to Sanction the International Criminal Court, Undermining Justice and Accountability

(Washington, D.C., January 27, 2025) — In response to the impending Senate vote on imposing sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) (the "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act"), DAWN issued the following statement:

"Imposing sanctions on the ICC not only undermines international justice and accountability at a time when the world needs it most, but it also violates the First Amendment rights of Americans by who might cooperate or even communicate with the court," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN. "This law sends the world a message that the U.S. government believes war criminals from certain countries are above the law and that it will use the full reach of its power to maintain that impunity."

"This law will not only embarrass the United States as a bully in the international system e, it could entangle U.S. officials in war crimes prosecutions of their own for obstruction of justice," said Raed Jarrar, Director of Advocacy at DAWN. "U.S. senators and other officials who attempt to intimidate the court may themselves be criminally liable under the Rome Statute."

"It is short-sighted and self-defeating to applaud the ICC when it seeks to arrest Vladimir Putin for alleged crimes in Ukraine and then turn around and sanction it as if it were a terrorist organization when it applies the same standards to alleged Israeli crimes in Gaza," said Reed Brody, a veteran war crimes prosecutor and DAWN Board Member.

"The ICC is doing the critical work of holding war criminals accountable, including those responsible for atrocities in Ukraine, Palestine, and Afghanistan," said Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, Israel-Palestine Research Director at DAWN. "Rather than punishing those working for justice, the United States should support the court's mandate by issuing its own arrest warrants for Israeli war criminals, like it has for Russians accused of war crimes in Ukraine."

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: Thunderstorm clouds roll over the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Source: Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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