RECLAIMING THE PROMISE OF ACCOUNTABILITY: Global Initiative Against Impunity’s Urgent Call to Action on the EU Day Against Impunity

The Global Initiative Against Impunity (GIAI) marks this year’s EU Day Against Impunity with grave concern, as international justice and accountability face escalating threats and direct attacks. Armed conflicts, state violence, and mass atrocities are on the rise across the globe, while the international community remains largely silent in the face of wide-spread impunity and the increasing application of double standards. This selective inaction not only undermines the rights of victims, it reinforces narratives that dehumanise survivors of the gravest crimes. We therefore call on the EU and its Member States to take firm, bold and coordinated measures to uphold human rights and protect the international justice mechanisms. At the heart of this effort must be a renewed commitment to victims and survivors, ensuring their call for justice is supported, and that their rights, voices and needs remain central to all justice and accountability processes.

While European countries and their allies recently commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the current global turmoil and staggering surge in armed conflicts cast a shadow on the celebrations. Civilians, particularly women and children [1], bear the brunt of this violence. Mass casualties and the collapse of the rules-based order are not mere collateral damage, but a direct and dangerous consequence that must be confronted. For nearly a year, civil society organisations have raised the alarm over unprecedented sanctions and threats against the International Criminal Court (ICC), which jeopardise its fundamental work for victim and survivors worldwide. In a climate of mounting pressure on accountability, states’ lack of compliance with their legal obligations and decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) further undermine efforts to deliver justice where it is most needed.

The credibility and effectiveness of the international justice system depend on consistent support and compliance. The European Parliament has echoed these concerns and, on several occasions, called on the EU to respond to attacks on international justice, including by activating protective mechanisms such as the Blocking Statute. However, a robust and united response is still awaited, especially in light of Italy and Hungary’s failures to execute ICC arrest warrants, and Hungary’s announcement of its withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the ICC, eroding the foundational values upon which the EU was built. Additional devel- opments weakening international humanitarian law, such as the recent intention expressed by Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland to withdraw from the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention – fundamental to prevent war crimes and protect civilians – are further signals of a failure to fight against impunity. This dangerous trend not only undermines the international legal framework, it also threatens the lives and mental well-being of millions by effectively granting authoritarian regimes free reins to continue or escalate their abuses.1

At the same time, civil society organisations operate in an increasingly hostile climate, including within the European Union itself. Civic freedoms have deteriorated across the globe and have been severely restricted in Europe over the past five years, leading to the criminalisation of human rights defenders and solidarity movements supporting victims of international crimes. In addition, the withdrawal of vital support, such as USAID’s programmes followed by numerous European governments’ funding cuts, threaten not only the delivery of assistance to those in need, particularly women and minorities, but also ongoing efforts towards accountability.

The cumulative impact of ongoing threats demands renewed solidarity and a stronger collective commitment to support victims, survivors and their communities, in their call for justice, truth, reparation and non-recurrence from all crime situations.

“We are not people who need to be fed. We are not hungry because we don’t have food. We are hungry because we are under occupation, we are under siege, we are under genocide. This is not what people in Gaza want. It’s not that they want only to eat. They want freedom. This is what we want.”

Mosab Abu Toha, writer, poet, scholar from Gaza, winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his portrayal of the Gaza war in the New Yorker. Credit: Democracy Now!

The world is at a critical historical juncture which requires the EU fully utilises the various mechanisms and tools at its disposal. Therefore, on this EU Day Against Impunity, the GIAI calls on the EU and its Member States to lead with resolve, to safeguard the institutions of justice, and to stand firmly with victims, survivors and their communities in the global fight against impunity. In particular, we urge the EU and its Member States to:

1. Promote human security rather than the militarization of security, by addressing structural drivers of impunity — including corruption, discrimination, weak rule of law, and militarized masculinities
2. Respect and implement binding provisional measures ordered by the ICJ, including those requiring states to prevent acts of genocide, punish incitements to genocide, enable the provision of humanitarian assistance, and preserve evidence related to alleged genocidal acts
3. Cooperate with the ICC, including by executing arrest warrants, surrendering suspects to the Court and refraining from diplomatic relations with those responsible of atrocities
4. Adopt and implement national and regional protective measures, such as the EU Blocking Statute, to support the operations of the International Criminal Court and shield those cooperating with the Court
5. Guarantee the rights of victims of international crimes, notably by ensuring their participation and meaningful access to justice, including by providing psychosocial support, translation services, and comprehensive witness protection

6. Support UN accountability mechanisms and experts in their efforts to access victims, investigate, protect, advocate for human rights and bring about justice for international crimes
7. Investigate and prosecute international crimes domestically, by adopting necessary legislation and building the capacity of national authorities to ensure credible, independent, and effective proceedings, including through the use of universal and extra- territorial jurisdiction
8. Advance survivors’ access to reparation, including by promoting targeted sanctions and asset recovery against perpetrators of international crimes as a way to promote reparative justice for communities of victims
9. Ensure adequate and sustainable financial support to international justice systems, in- cluding the ICC the Trust Fund for Victims, as well as civil society organisations, particularly local organisations, working to enhance justice and accountability.
10. Ensure transparency regarding national efforts to combat impunity by publishing annual, disaggregated data on ongoing or concluded proceedings for international crimes. Such transparency is essential to coordinate action, identify blind spots, and meaningfully assess the actual impact of States’ commitments.

About the Global Initiative Against Impunity (GIAI)

The “Global Initiative Against Impunity for international crimes: Making justice work” (GIAI) is a Consortium of eight international NGOs and the Coalition for the ICC, co-funded by the European Union, which aims to contribute to the fight against impunity by supporting a comprehensive, integrated and inclusive approach to justice and accountability for serious human rights violations and international crimes.

Driven by this commitment, we are launching today the GIAI Knowledge Management Platform, an inclusive, multilingual digital space for collaboration, learning, and information sharing.