The current U.S. sanctions on our organisations for our engagement with the International Criminal Court, announced on September 4th, have resulted in multiple detrimental effects on our operations, our ability to continue representing victims, and document human rights violations.
Immediate Impacts:
1. All bank accounts were closed, crippling our operations, our ability to pay employee salaries, receive funding, and forcing us to divert our resources to address these attacks, taking away attention from our vital advocacy and accountability work.
2. Colleagues holding U.S. citizenship were forced to resign due to the risk of incurring severe criminal and civil penalties for continuing to work with us as sanctioned organisations.
3. Loss of funds, particularly from our U.S.-based donors.
4. U.S.-based partners may be forced to refrain from engaging in any joint legal and advocacy with us, ultimately restricting their freedom of speech.
5. Social media restrictions:
- YouTube, owned by the tech giant Google, shut down our accounts without warning, permanently deleting hundreds—if not thousands—of videos, documentaries, and testimonies collected from victims of international crimes in Palestine, ultimately silencing the voices of Palestinian victims.
- Mailchimp, a platform Al-Haq was using to distribute statements and news to thousands of journalists and followers around the world, shut down without warning, limiting public communications on crimes and human rights violations committed against the Palestinian people.
- Meta platforms disabled our ability to use ads and promotions.
We are working to replace all our engagements with U.S.-based companies. All our material has been backed up and stored securely.
Despite this repression, remarkable support has been shown to our organisations by fellow networks, coalitions, civil society actors, and people of conscience from around the world. We salute these courageous organisations for taking such principled steps.
Our staff and colleagues remain steadfast and dedicated to expanding our outreach and advocacy for justice in Palestine. We remain committed to implementing solutions, finding alternatives, and continuing to serve our people, defend victims of atrocity crimes in Palestine, and engage with the global human rights movement.
These are attacks on the entire human rights movement globally and an attempt to silence victims of genocide and organisations documenting crimes against Palestinians. It is part and parcel of Israel’s apartheid, genocide and campaign of erasure against the Palestinian people.
In the face of atrocity crimes, continued support for human rights organisations and accountability mechanisms, and resistance to draconian measures that undermine them, remains crucial.
Sustaining focus on Palestine and the broader struggle for accountability and justice is essential to the protection of human rights worldwide. The road to justice is long and challenging. However, hope belongs to us, and we will never stop our pursuit of justice.