US Sanctions Targeting the International Criminal Court and Those Supporting its Work ― Joint NGO Briefing on Role Expected of the Japanese Government

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The United States government, citing reasons including the issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is intensifying pressure on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. In response, Japan-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including Human Rights Now and Human Rights Watch, are holding a joint event at the Japanese Diet to advocate for the role of the Japanese government in defending the court and championing the global rule of law. 

What:

1. What is the International Criminal Court (ICC)? Its role, activities, and relationship with the Japanese government.

2. The content and impact of US sanctions against the ICC

3. The role expected of the Japanese government

4. Messages from NGOs

Who (TBC):

Kazuko Ito (Attorney, Vice President, Human Rights Now)

Kanae Doi (Japan Director, Human Rights Watch)

Hiroshige Fujii (Researcher of International Criminal Law/Peace Building, Associate Professor, Faculty of International Studies, Utsunomiya University. Speaking in a personal capacity.)

Kentaro Uematsu (Attorney, Aichi Bar Association)

Hajime Kawaguchi (Attorney, Aichi Bar Association)

Tatsuya Yoshioka (Co-Director, Peace Boat)

Kaoru Nemoto (Director, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) )

Philipp Osten (Keio University, Professor, Faculty of Law)

When:

Thursday, October 9, 2025, 2 pm to 3:30 pm

Location: No. 6 Mtg Room, Second Members’s Office Building of the House of Representatives

Please register via the form below (free admission):

https://forms.gle/PtGHK9nhxDPWfVao6 

Organized by: Human Rights Now, Human Rights Watch and others

Co-organized by: Peace Boat

Supported by: Nonpartisan Association for Humanitarian Diplomacy, Parliamentary Association for Supporting Democratization of Myanmar

In cooperation with: Nonpartisan Parliamentary Association for Reconsidering Human Rights Diplomacy

For more information, please contact:

Kanae Doi (Human Rights Watch): tokyo@hrw.org

Yuri Sato (Human Rights Now): info@hrn.or.jp

Background:

The US government's sanctions targeting the ICC and those supporting its work are escalating rapidly, and the ICC, and the broader international justice system, are facing an existential threat.

The ICC's President is Tomoko Akane of Japan. As a major signatory state that has so far nominated three of the court’s past and present judges, Japan should demonstrate leadership in protecting the ICC. To date, Japan has not spoken up in defense of the court and against efforts to undermine its critical global mandate, favoring instead more discrete diplomacy, but both are needed.

As of September 16, 2025, US sanctions targeting the ICC and those supporting its work:

On February 6, 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the freezing of assets and entry bans against ICC staff and those supporting its activities. On February 10, the US imposed sanctions against the ICC Chief Prosecutor; in June, against four judges; in July, against the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; in August, against two more of the court’s judges and its two deputy prosecutors; and in September, against three leading Palestinian human rights groups.

The clear purpose of these sanctions is to shield officials from the US and Israel from facing charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity before the ICC for acts committed in an ICC member state. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized the ICC, calling it “a threat to the national security of the United States and our close ally Israel.”

The Japanese government’s reaction so far:

The Japanese government has stated that it “consistently supports the ICC” and that Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya “directly raised the issue with Secretary Rubio.” At the same time, however, Japan has not spoken out publicly against these attacks on the court and those supporting its work and failed to join a February 7 statement signed by 79 ICC member states and other joint initiatives.

About this event:

This event aims to clarify requests from NGOs and legal professionals regarding the crucial role the Japanese government should play in protecting the ICC, the last bastion for achieving justice for serious international crimes. Associate Professor Hiroshige Fujii of Utsunomiya University will provide an easy-to-understand explanation for beginners on the ICC and US sanctions.