Washington, DC—On January 9, the United States House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill that would sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC). The bill was created to protest the ICC’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel’s crimes against humanity in Gaza. CGS led 116 organizations—including faith-based groups, human rights organizations, peace advocates, and legal associations—in an open letter decrying the attack on an independent judicial institution established to advance justice for victims of the most heinous crimes.
The vote passed by an overwhelming margin, with 243 in favor (including 45 Democrats) and 140 against the “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act,” which threatens sanctions for any foreigner who helps the ICC in its attempts to investigate, detain, or prosecute a US citizen or citizen of an allied country that does not recognize the court’s authority.
The bill will now be passed to the Senate for consideration by the Senate Foreign Relations Affairs, emphasizing the importance of our continued efforts to speak out against it and its implementation, as it is a direct attack on the ICC. Not only that, but the passage of sanctions on the ICC jeopardizes the ability of desperate victims across all the court’s investigations to access justice, weakens the credibility of sanction tools in other contexts, and places the United States at odds with its closest allies, as outlined in the letter we issued to Congress and the incoming presidential administration on January 6.
