US Urged to Lift Sanctions on Palestinian Rights Group
The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) June 10, 2025 decision to sanction Addameer, a prominent Palestinian human rights organization, is a deplorable illustration of the ongoing crackdown against Palestinian and pro-Palestinian human rights defenders and voices in the US and other parts of the world. This baseless and arbitrary decision should be immediately reversed, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today, one month after the decision.
Both groups have worked closely with Addameer for decades. The US imposed sanctions based on claims that Addameer is affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the US government has designated as a “terrorist organization,” despite providing no evidence to substantiate the claims of affiliation.
The US is using its sanctions regime to do the bidding of the Israeli government, which has long sought to systematically muzzle human rights reporting and advocacy, the organizations said.
It is outrageous that, instead of pressing Israel to stop its ongoing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide against Palestinians, the US is taking draconian measures against human rights defenders, punishing voices opposing genocide, occupation, and apartheid, and thereby joining Israel’s assault on the international human rights movement, the organizations added.
Israeli authorities in 2021 outlawed Addameer, along with five other Palestinian human rights and civil society groups, designating them as “terrorist” and “illegal” organizations based on similar claims of affiliation, and in August 2022 raided their offices. Israel has not put forward any credible evidence to substantiate these allegations. Much of the international community, including many European states, has rejected the allegations as unsubstantiated.
Addameer represents and advocates for the rights of Palestinian detainees and prisoners held by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. US sanctions are being imposed as Israeli authorities are holding over 3,000 Palestinians in administrative detention without trial or charge and are using torture, including inflicting sexual violence on and denying Palestinian detainees adequate food, medical care, and access to international monitors such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. Addameer has been providing many of these Palestinian detainees with pro bono legal aid, even as Israeli authorities have escalated their use of torture and other ill-treatment to horrifying levels. Over 72 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian prisoners’ organizations.
The move sets a dangerous precedent of using sanctions as a tool to punish human rights defenders exposing abuses by US allies, the organizations said.
The US sanctions have catastrophic consequences for Addameer, Palestinians who rely on their vital work, and Palestinian civil society more broadly. The sanctions would make the organization’s day-to-day operations more difficult, including for their employees, assisted communities, and service suppliers. This will also negatively affect their engagement with their partner organizations locally and internationally, including US-based groups.
The chilling effect of this decision on human rights advocacy related to Israel’s violations of Palestinians’ rights is undeniable at a time when it is most needed, as Israel has gravely escalated its international crimes against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the organizations said.
OFAC should immediately reverse its baseless and arbitrary decision to impose sanctions on Addameer.
Human rights defenders and those expressing support and solidarity with Palestinians must be protected, not proscribed and silenced, the organizations added.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/10/us-lift-sanctions-on-leading-palestinian-human-rights-organization