A coalition of 78 international rights organizations has publicly condemned the recent US sanctions imposed on three Palestinian human rights groups. The sanctions, which were announced by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in September, target Al-Haq, Al-Mezan, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), accusing them of aiding the International Criminal Court (ICC) in actions against Israeli nationals.

The joint statement, endorsed by prominent organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the American Civil Liberties Union, criticizes the sanctions for crippling the operational capabilities of these groups in documenting and addressing severe human rights violations in the region. The groups argue that these sanctions not only threaten the civil society infrastructure in Gaza but also significantly hinder their critical fact-finding and accountability efforts under international law.

Further compounding the controversy, the statement supports the stance of Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has urged the United States to reconsider and withdraw these sanctions. Türk highlighted that such punitive measures against legal and civil society actors undermine the global fight against impunity and silence the victims of human rights abuses.

The sanctions came into effect following Executive Order 14203, signed by President Donald Trump in February 2025, which broadened the scope of US sanctions to include any individuals or entities that assist the ICC in investigating American citizens or allies without respective consent.

The work of the sanctioned organizations, Al-Haq, Al-Mezan, and PCHR, involves collecting testimonies and submitting reports to the ICC, which have played a pivotal role in documenting alleged war crimes in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Critics of the sanctions argue that stifling these efforts will not only impede justice but also embolden perpetrators of international crimes.

As debates over the implications of these sanctions continue, the international community watches closely, with many advocating for a reassessment of the measures to ensure that efforts towards global human rights accountability are not derailed.