📢 JPTi Executive Director Denounces U.S. Abuse of Emergency Powers and Calls for Accountability at UN Human Rights Council Event
- Sharof
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 2
Geneva, 27 June 2025
Justice pour Tous Internationale (JPTi) participated in the side event “Independence of the Judiciary”, held on 27 June 2025 during the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Convened by the International Commission of Jurists, the panel featured:
🔹 H.E. Mr. Gustavo Gallón, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations Office at Geneva
🔹 Ms. Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
🔹 H.E. Mr. Christophe Payot, Deputy Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the United Nations Office at Geneva
🔹 Ms. Kate Vigneswaran, Senior Legal Adviser, International Commission of Jurists (moderator)
🔹 Judge Tomoko Akane, President of the International Criminal Court (via video address)
During the event, Mr. Sharof Azizov, Executive Director of JPTi, delivered a formal intervention urging Member States to take principled action in addressing the United States’ long-standing and intensifying non-compliance with Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Mr. Azizov emphasized that the United States has entrenched a permanent legal regime of emergency powers, with over 40 active national emergency declarations—many in effect for decades—implemented through the National Emergencies Act (NEA) and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). These emergency regimes have been used to justify expansive executive actions absent any proclamation of a public emergency that “threatens the life of the nation,” and without fulfilling the mandatory notification to the UN Secretary-General under Article 4(3) ICCPR.
JPTi denounced the de facto derogation of ICCPR rights—including due process, judicial protection, and freedom of movement—without any formal derogation procedure, judicial review, or international oversight. The Executive Director warned that these practices have created a parallel system of rule by decree, violating both the letter and purpose of Article 4 and threatening the global normative framework of human rights protection.
This concern has been sharply reinforced by recent developments in June 2025. The U.S. Supreme Court curtailed the authority of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions, weakening the judiciary’s ability to protect migrant families and enforce constitutional constraints. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has launched an unprecedented lawsuit against all 15 federal judges in Maryland over an injunction halting mass deportations—an overt act of intimidation that further undermines the independence of the judiciary.
Internationally, the Biden administration’s continuation of emergency-based sanctions against officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has had chilling effects. British ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan reportedly lost access to his professional email and bank accounts. These sanctions—enforced under IEEPA without due process or proportionality—gravely undermine international justice and exemplify the extraterritorial abuse of emergency powers condemned in JPTi’s UPR submission.
JPTi’s Executive Director urged the international community to uphold judicial independence at both domestic and international levels, and called on UN Member States to:
– Demand that the United States bring its emergency legislation into full compliance with Article 4 ICCPR;
– Repeal executive authorities that enable indefinite, unnotified, and unreviewed states of emergency without international accountability; and
– Restore trust in the international legal order by lifting coercive measures against judicial institutions.
📄 Full UPR Submission on U.S. Non-Compliance with Article 4 ICCPR: https://www.jpti.ch/post/jpti-submits-upr-report-on-u-s-non-compliance-with-article-4-of-the-iccpr-geneva-8-april-2025
JPTi's submission for the Human Rights Committee 139 Session (09 Oct 2023 - 03 Nov 2023) - the USA review: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2FCCPR%2FCSS%2FUSA%2F55945&Lang=en
📢 JPTi Statement on H.R. 1526: https://www.jpti.ch/post/jpti-responds-to-the-passage-of-h-r-1526-a-regressive-blow-to-judicial-oversight-and-human-rights
📬 Contact: registry@jpti.ch
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