UN experts dismayed by US sanctions against Palestinian human rights organisations

The decision by the United States to sanction three leading Palestinian human rights organisations, Al-Haq, Al-Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, as part of its campaign to undermine the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) work on Israel, is alarming and represents a direct attack on international justice, UN experts* warned today.

“These three organisations are among the oldest and most effective and reliable in covering human rights violations and abuses by all parties in the occupied Palestinian territories – they have been represented in international venues and they are globally respected,” the experts said.

Al Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights have filed observations to the ICC and provided documentation of Israeli violations against civilians in Gaza.

“The new sanctions on these key Palestinian organisations pursuant to Executive Order 14203 come at a time when many countries have begun to voice strong condemnation of Israeli attacks and killings of civilians in Gaza, the targeting of journalists and medical personnel, and restrictions on food aid resulting in famine being declared in the besieged enclave,” the experts said. “Sanctioning organisations for denouncing human rights violations is a blatant violation of the rights to freedom of expression and association.”

“Much of the international recognition of Israel’s violations in Gaza is owed to the tireless work of Al-Haq, Al-Mezan, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and others, which have documented and exposed the reality on the ground at a time when foreign journalists and observers are barred from entry,” the experts said.

The sanctions follow those imposed on Addameer, a Palestinian human rights organisation which promotes and protects prisoners’ rights, and which was added to the United States’ Specially Designated Nationals list in June 2025. “Sanctions and designations are being misused in an effort to silence pro-Palestine voices and hinder international accountability.”

“These organisations deserve to be supported and funded precisely because of their work at this time on Israeli violations in Gaza and in the West Bank,” they said. “It is disgraceful that the US has chosen to do the opposite.”