Civil society organisations and victims’ associations working to ensure accountability for war crimes in Ukraine are calling on all States Parties to the Rome Statute to protect the International Criminal Court (ICC) from external pressure and sanctions.
17 July 2026
We, civil society organisations, experts, and associations of victims and survivors working to ensure justice and accountability for crimes committed during Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014, call on all States Parties to the Rome Statute to defend the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the face of pressure and sanctions.
The United States administration has announced a campaign to ‘dismantle’ the Court, which includes, in particular, tightening sanctions against the ICC and its associated organisations, travel bans and the revocation of visas for Court staff, as well as the use of US diplomatic tools and support to pressure ICC member states to withdraw from the Rome Statute or oppose the Court.
This is by no means the first time the ICC has faced attacks and threats for carrying out the work entrusted to it by the international community — including Ukraine. The US has previously imposed sanctions against ICC officials and those who cooperate with it, including the ICC Prosecutor and Deputy Prosecutors, ICC judges, as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and three Palestinian human rights organisations. Unfortunately, this echoes the actions of the Russian Federation, where the ICC Prosecutor and eight judges have been convicted in absentia for carrying out their official duties.
This new campaign demands a united and principled response from all states.
Such threats are unacceptable and will continue to undermine the rights of victims and the hope for justice in Ukraine and around the world. For years, civil society and victims in Ukraine have worked to ensure that the Court investigates and prosecutes violations within the jurisdiction recognised by the state — to guarantee victims access to this vital mechanism for justice. We have also advocated for Ukraine’s ratification of the Rome Statute so that it may become a full participant in this system. The United States itself has supported the ICC’s work on the situation in Ukraine — particularly since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The ICC plays a unique role in the architecture of international justice, ensuring that no one is above the law — and, above all, not the most powerful perpetrators. Indeed, the ICC has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov and other senior Russian officials. Without the ICC, Ukraine’s justice system — even with the support of other mechanisms, including the future Special Tribunal on the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine — will be unable to guarantee justice and redress for crimes of such scale and gravity.
We know that the ICC is often one of the last avenues of justice to which victims can turn when all other options have been exhausted. We also know from our own experience how impunity for past or ongoing crimes of the gravest nature leads to further violations in the future — in Ukraine and beyond.
We are concerned that such actions — and even the mere threat of them — may cause significant harm to the Court’s work, in particular by disrupting its operations, reducing states’ support and willingness to cooperate, and diminishing the willingness of victims and civil society to engage with the ICC.
At this critical juncture, we call on Ukraine and all other States Parties to the ICC, as well as the European Union, to stand firmly in defence of the Court and to resist any attempts to undermine victims’ pursuit of justice.
- States Parties to the Rome Statute must act now to reaffirm their unconditional and principled support for the ICC, their willingness to cooperate with it in all aspects of its work, and to resist any attempts to undermine this work.
- States Parties to the Rome Statute and regional actors, in particular the EU, must introduce concrete measures to minimise the impact of actions taken by the US, and to protect the ICC and those who engage with it, in particular by introducing blocking statutes at national and regional levels.
- States Parties to the Rome Statute should engage with the United States to secure the withdrawal of the announced campaign and prevent further actions against the ICC.
For many victims and survivors in Ukraine and around the world, the ICC is perhaps their greatest hope for justice. The international community must not allow political pressure and intimidation to destroy that hope.
Signatories:
Ukraine. 5AM Coalition — a coalition of 38 civil society organisations and 4 individual experts
Tribunal for Putin (T4P) Initiative — an initiative with 30+ member organisations
Survivor-led organisations, and survivor associations:
NGO Way of Freeman
Davidenko Kostiantyn head of NGO “Civilians in captivity”
Head of NGO “Warriors' Liberation” Yepifanova Nataliia
NGO “Civil Freedoms,” led by Maria Viktorivna Sizyonova
NGO "CIVILIAN PRISONERS"
Bogdan Yuriyovych Pervachuk
Our Dearest Ones Family Association, Anna Mushtukova
NGO “Military Medics of Ukraine” Viktoriia Ivchuk
ALUMNI Network of Ukrainian Men Who Survived Captivity and Torture
NGO “Ukrainian Movement RETURN FREEDOM”
Larysa Shevandina Co-organizer and Ambassador of the International Advocacy Campaign “SAVE UKRAINIAN CIVILIAN HOSTAGES TOGETHER” Wife of civilian hostage Oleg Shevandin, who has been illegally held in Russian captivity since 2015
SEMA Ukraine NGO, Iryna Dovgan
The initiative group “Association of Families of Missing and Captured Personnel from the 72nd Mechanised Brigade and the 48th Special Rifle Battalion”, founded and coordinated by Nataliia Zelinska
NGO “Numo, Sisters!”, Lyudmyla Huseynova
NGO «Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin»
(updated — 17 July 2026)
17.07.2026
