{"slug":"palestinian-human-rights-ngos-sanctioned","title":"US Sanctions Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Under ICC Sanctions Order (September 2025)","date":"2025-09-04","lastUpdated":"2026-10-04","description":"On 4 September 2025 the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added three leading Palestinian human rights organisations, Al-Haq in Ramallah and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza City, to its sanctions list under Executive Order 14203, the order targeting people who assist the International Criminal Court's investigations of the US or its allies. The State Department announced the action as 'Sanctioning Foreign NGOs Directly Engaged in ICC's Illegitimate Targeting of Israel'. Human Rights Watch called the designations 'a cruel and vindictive effort to punish those simply advocating for victims of serious crimes'.","summary":"The Trump administration used its ICC sanctions order against three of the main Palestinian organisations that document abuses in Gaza and the West Bank and submit evidence to the International Criminal Court, freezing their US-linked assets and exposing anyone who works with them to sanctions risk.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"critical","ongoing":true,"sources":[{"url":"https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20250904","title":"International Criminal Court-related Designations; Counter Narcotics and Counter Terrorism Designation Updates; Issuance of International Criminal Court-related General License","publisher":"US Department of the Treasury, OFAC"},{"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/12/2025-02612/imposing-sanctions-on-the-international-criminal-court","title":"Executive Order 14203: Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court","publisher":"Federal Register"},{"url":"https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/09/04/us-uses-icc-sanctions-against-three-leading-palestinian-rights-groups","title":"US Uses ICC Sanctions Against Three Leading Palestinian Rights Groups","publisher":"Human Rights Watch"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["ICC","sanctions","Al-Haq","Al Mezan","Palestinian Centre for Human Rights","human rights defenders","Palestine","OFAC","EO 14203"],"relatedEntries":["icc-sanctions","sanctions-un-special-rapporteur","icc-immunity-demands-rome-statute","gaza-arms-complicity"],"timeline":[{"date":"2025-09-04","title":"OFAC designates three Palestinian rights groups","summary":"Treasury adds Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights to the sanctions list under EO 14203 and issues a wind-down licence; the State Department titles its announcement 'Sanctioning Foreign NGOs Directly Engaged in ICC's Illegitimate Targeting of Israel' (OFAC; HRW)."},{"date":"2025-09-04","title":"Human Rights Watch condemns designations","summary":"HRW calls the sanctions 'a cruel and vindictive effort to punish those simply advocating for victims of serious crimes' (HRW)."}],"location":{"name":"Ramallah, West Bank, and Gaza City","lat":31.9,"lng":35.2},"custom":{"era":"second-term","posture":"executive-action","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Articles 19 and 22","provision":"Freedom of expression and of association (US is a party; the ICCPR's extraterritorial application is disputed by the US)"},{"statute":"UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (GA Res. 53/144)","provision":"Non-binding: the right to seek protection and realisation of human rights and to communicate with international bodies"},{"statute":"Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court","article":"Article 70","provision":"Offences against the administration of justice, including impeding or retaliating against those who assist the Court (US not a State Party; Palestine is)"}],"iccRelevance":true,"victims":"Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, their staff, and the Palestinian victims whose cases they document and bring to courts and UN bodies. The designations also affect donors, banks and partner organisations that risk sanctions for dealing with them.","perpetrators":"Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department, which announced the designations; the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which implemented them; President Donald Trump, who issued Executive Order 14203.","structuredVictims":[{"name":"Al-Haq","group":"Palestinian human rights organisation, Ramallah","status":"designated under EO 14203"},{"name":"Al Mezan Center for Human Rights","group":"Palestinian human rights organisation, Gaza City","status":"designated under EO 14203"},{"name":"Palestinian Centre for Human Rights","group":"Palestinian human rights organisation, Gaza City","status":"designated under EO 14203"}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Office of Foreign Assets Control","role":"Implemented the designations","institution":"Department of the Treasury"},{"name":"US Department of State","role":"Announced and justified the designations","institution":"US Government"},{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Issued Executive Order 14203 authorising ICC-related sanctions","institution":"White House"}],"keyPoints":["On 4 September 2025 OFAC added Al-Haq (Ramallah, founded 1979), Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Gaza City, founded 1999) and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (Gaza City, founded 1995) to the Specially Designated Nationals list, each tagged [ICC-EO14203] (OFAC).","Executive Order 14203 (6 February 2025), issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, blocks the property of foreign persons the Secretary of State determines 'to have directly engaged in any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person' without their state's consent, or to have materially assisted such efforts. Its preamble says the ICC has engaged in 'illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel' (Federal Register).","OFAC issued ICC-related General License 10, authorising the wind-down of transactions with the three groups (OFAC).","The State Department titled its announcement 'Sanctioning Foreign NGOs Directly Engaged in ICC's Illegitimate Targeting of Israel' (as linked from OFAC's notice).","Human Rights Watch's international justice director, Liz Evenson, said: 'The Trump administration's sanctions on three widely respected Palestinian human rights groups are a cruel and vindictive effort to punish those simply advocating for victims of serious crimes' (HRW).","Designation blocks any property the groups have in the US or controlled by US persons and generally bars US persons, including banks and donors, from dealing with them."],"searchAliases":["Al-Haq sanctions","Al Mezan sanctions","PCHR sanctions","EO 14203 NGOs"],"legalBasis":"Executive Order 14203 (ICC sanctions); ICCPR Arts. 19 and 22; obstruction of an international accountability mechanism, which the archive's critical grade names expressly","postureNote":"The designations are official US government actions recorded on OFAC's sanctions list. The characterisation of them as punishment for advocacy is Human Rights Watch's; the US says the groups are engaged in 'illegitimate targeting of Israel' through the ICC. This entry did not fetch the State Department release itself (it returned an error) and relies on its title as linked from OFAC's notice. Reports of lawsuits challenging the designations in 2026 were not verified for this entry. No international crime is in play.","relatedIncidents":["icc-sanctions","sanctions-un-special-rapporteur","icc-immunity-demands-rome-statute","gaza-arms-complicity"]}}