Prosecuting Economic Sanctions as Crimes against Humanity

Referral of the US sanctions situation by the government of Venezuela to the International Criminal Court poses the question of whether economic sanctions may fall within the ICC jurisdiction as crimes against humanity. It is the first time that the issue of sanctions is brought before an international criminal tribunal and therefore the response could not be found in the jurisprudence. Nevertheless, by analyzing the law and practice of the Court this article proves that the category of other inhumane acts as referred to in Paragraph K of Article 7 of the Rome Statute include those economic sanctions that cause great suffering and serious harm to the health of any civilian population, provided that are carried out in furtherance of a State policy against ordinary people. In establishing this proposal, the US sanctions against Iran is analyzed as a case.