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The Observatory has been informed of sanctions imposed by the United States of America’s Department of the Treasury (OFAC) against three Palestinian NGOs, Al Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Al Mezan), and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR). The three organisations have been documenting human rights violations against Palestinian civilians and prisoners and have been engaging with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to provide evidence on Israel’s actions and abuses. The three of them are members of FIDH and the OMCT.
On 4 September 2025, the three Palestinians organisations have been added to the Department of the Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List”. This list compiles individuals and organisations said to be “owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of targeted countries” or to be “terrorists and narcotics traffickers”. By being added on this list, Al Haq, Al Mezan and PCHR will see all their property and interests under U.S. jurisdiction blocked and any transactions by U.S. persons prohibited. These measures threaten the very survival of these organisations.
In a statement published on the same day, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio has justified the sanctions under the Executive Order 14203, “Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court” as the three organisations have assisted the ICC in its investigation on the State of Israel. The Section 1 (a) of the Executive Order clearly indicates that all those who “have directly engaged in any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person without consent of that person's country of nationality” will face sanctions.
The Observatory recalls that this is not the first time that the OFAC has issued sanctions against Palestinian human rights organisations as was the case on 10 June 2025 with the Palestinian organisation Addameer that was designated as a “terrorist financing” organisation under Executive Order 13224.
The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing pattern of attacks on Palestinian human rights organisations through the misuse of economic sanctions in retaliation of collaboration with an international judicial body.
The Observatory is particularly alarmed by the impact these sanctions will have on Palestinian victims of torture and human rights violations, many amounting to international crimes, who rely on Al Haq, Al Mezan and PCHR’s actions of monitoring and advocacy. Reports by UN experts in 2024 pointed to a rise in the use of torture and ill-treatment in Israeli custody since October 2023.
The Observatory strongly urges U.S. authorities to immediately lift these sanctions, which contribute to the shrinking of Palestinian civic space and infringes on the right of Palestinian human rights organisations to interact and engage with international judicial bodies like the ICC.
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