34 CSOs Condemn US Sanctions on leading Palestinian Human Rights Organisations

As Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza escalates, enabled by US military and political support, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on prominent Palestinian human rights organisations, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. This represents a grave assault on human rights standards, the global pursuit of justice and respect for international law. 

The work of these organisations in legal research, documentation and advocacy has shed light on Israel’s ongoing violations of international law. Their engagement with international justice mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), has resulted in their inclusion in a broader series of US sanctions applied to the ICC Prosecutor and deputies, six ICC judges, and UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) Francesca Albanese.  

Instead of acknowledging and addressing these violations and its contribution to them, the United States has decided to sanction those striving to uphold the  international human rights system and international justice, in an attempt to shield Israel from accountability for its genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, unlawful occupation of the whole oPt and apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights it controls. Addameer, another prominent Palestinian organisation, has also been arbitrarily sanctioned by the US, solely for its work in defense of human rights. 

We, the undersigned organisations, condemn this decision and call on states to take urgent and coordinated global action, show public solidarity with and protect the targeted organisations, and reaffirm their commitment to the international human rights system and international justice by opposing Executive Order 14203. 

These sanctions are the latest in a long line of attempts to silence Palestinian voices. We express our full solidarity with the three organisations and the entire Palestinian human rights movement in the face of this malicious effort, which is part of a decades-long campaign by Israel and its allies to systematically deny the Palestinians’ rights, including the right to return, under international law, and evade justice and accountability for decades of crimes under international law. 

The undersigned organisations call on all states, at national level and in multilateral fora, to: 

• Take concrete steps and utilise all available means to ensure the safety and protection of the operations and staff of these organisations in the occupied Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, who face heightened risks for carrying out legitimate human rights work. 

• Urge EU Member States to immediately invoke and enforce the EU Blocking Statute to shield and protect Palestinian human rights organisations, defenders, UN experts, and the International Criminal Court from the effects of US extraterritorial sanctions. We further urge states to adopt similar instruments at national and regional level to mitigate the effect of these sanctions, while exerting diplomatic pressure on the US government to reverse them. 

• Use all means at their disposal to pressure Israel to end its genocide and other violations of international law in Gaza and the oPt, including by: imposing a comprehensive arms embargo;  suspending all activities that contribute to or are directly linked to Israel’s unlawful occupation of the oPt, its system of apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights it controls or the genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip; and imposing targeted sanctions against Israeli officials most implicated in crimes under international law.  

In parallel, we urge our fellow human rights organisations and defenders to: 

• Join forces with partners, social movements, and solidarity groups to mobilise worldwide to amplify the voices of the Palestinian people. Support efforts to organise and exercise the right to peaceful assembly to pressure Israel to end its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and its oppression of the Palestinian people, and to achieve justice and accountability for Israel’s violations of international law.  

List of signatories : 

• 11.11.11
• Amnesty International
• Anti-Racism Movement (Lebanon)
• Associazione Ricreativa e Culturale Italiana – ARCI
• Belgian Academics and Artists for Palestine -BA4P
• Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
• CCFD – Terre Solidaire
• Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance – CEWLA
• Center for Legal Aid Voice in Bulgaria
• CNCD-11.11.11
• Comité pour le respect des libertés et des droits de l’Homme en Tunisie – CRLDHT
• Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient, Luxembourg
• Consiglio Italiano per i Rifugiati – CIR
• Cooperazione Internazionale Sud-Sud – CISS
• Egyptian Human Rights Forum – EHRF
• EuroMed Rights
• European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine – ECCP
• Fédération des tunisiens citoyens des deux rives – FTCR
• Human Rights Association  (İnsan Hakları Derneği) – iHD
• HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
• Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center – JLAC
• LDH (Ligue des droits de l’Homme)
• Lebanese Center for Human Rights – CLDH
• Movimento pelos direitos do povo palestino e pela paz no Médio Oriente – MPPM
• New Woman Foundation – Egypt
• Palestinian Human Rights Organisation in Lebanon – PHRO
• Pax Christi International
• Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine
• Refugees Platform In Egypt-RPE
• Sadaka-the Ireland Palestine Alliance
• Sinai Foundation for Human Rights – SFHR
• Trócaire
• Weltfriedensdienst e.V.
• Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling – WCLAC