The undersigned organizations express their deep concern regarding today’s announcement by Secretary of State Pompeo and other senior U.S. officials that the United States, among other things, has invoked emergency powers in order to threaten asset freezes and other punitive actions against officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC), their family members, and those who assist their investigations.

The ICC exists because it is difficult to hold government officials and other powerful actors accountable when they commit grave human rights abuses. That impunity, in turn, is corrosive to the broader rule of law, the prospects of lasting peace, and respect for the dignity of all. Since the ICC’s establishment in 2002 as a court of last resort, diverse coalitions of faith-based organizations, human rights advocates, legal practitioners, victims of atrocities, and other constituencies have often looked to it to complement and reinforce their work for justice. Like all other human institutions, the ICC has room for improvement. Nevertheless, from Uganda and the Central African Republic to Darfur and the situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar, the ICC continues to play a vital role, filling gaps in the justice system by independently investigating and prosecuting grave atrocity crimes when national authorities do not do so, or when they seek out help.

This is the context that makes the latest steps in the U.S. government’s attack on the ICC so alarming. It is unacceptable that the United States would target the judges, prosecutors, and other legal professionals of a court that more than 120 countries have joined – including U.S. allies in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region – using tools that are designed to stigmatize war criminals and disrupt terrorist networks. At this fragile moment in our country and globally, the U.S. government must find ways to address its stated concerns without alienating other countries that have supported international justice or signaling to those who may face the scrutiny of institutions like the ICC that intimidation is an acceptable means of avoiding accountability.

The United States can and should be a powerful voice for justice and accountability for mass atrocities. Punitive measures against the ICC diminish the credibility of that voice. We urge the administration to reverse the steps it has announced, and we urge members of Congress to clearly and publicly oppose this policy.

1. The Advocates for Human Rights
2. Alliance for Peacebuilding
3. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
4. American Friends Service Committee
5. American Jewish World Service
6. Amnesty International USA
7. Anti-Torture Initiative, American University Washington College of Law
8. Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)
9. Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law
10. Center for Victims of Torture
11. Center for the Study of Law and Genocide at Loyola Law School
12. Charity & Security Network
13. The Columbia Human Rights Institute
14. Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
15. Cornell International Human Rights Clinic: Litigation and Advocacy
16. Darfur Women Action Group
17. Defending Rights & Dissent
18. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
19. Fortify Rights
20. Freedom Forward
21. Friends Committee on National Legislation
22. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
23. Global Justice Center
24. Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
25. Human Rights First
26. Human Rights Institute, Georgetown Law
27. Human Rights Watch
28. The International Center for Transitional Justice
29. The International Criminal Court Alliance
30. The International Criminal Court Student Network
31. International Human Rights Center, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
32. International Justice Project
33. J Street
34. Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham
35. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
36. National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
37. Never Again Coalition
38. The Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Center for International Human Rights
39. Pax Christi USA
40. Peace Action
41. Physicians for Human Rights
42. Presbyterian Church (USA)
43. Project Blueprint
44. The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA
45. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
46. The Sentry
47. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team
48. Syria Justice and Accountability Centre
49. Union for Reform Judaism
50. Unitarian Universalist Association
51. United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
52. The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
53. United Nations Association of the USA
54. United Nations Association – Greater Philadelphia
55. Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, University of Cincinnati College of Law
56. Victim Advocates International
57. War Crimes Research Office, American University, Washington College of Law
58. World Federalist Movement – Institute for Global Policy
59. World Without Genocide at Mitchell Hamline School of Law