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From the treaty hearings to the courtroom
Sue the WHO.
IoJ has pushed further than almost anyone to hold the WHO to account. We spoke at the WHO's pandemic treaty hearings, became a partner civil society organization, and filed crimes against humanity complaints that the WHO's ethics office referred to national authorities.
The courtroom is next. We allege the WHO acted as a commercial gatekeeper when it listed COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use, and that countries relied on its word to their harm. The case can be brought in several countries. The strongest forum is the United States.
1
Build the record
The treaty hearings, the complaints and the referrals, organized for a court.
2
Bring counsel on
A licensed U.S. litigator to take the WHO to federal court.
3
File the case
Sue the WHO in U.S. federal court for the commercial conduct behind its emergency listings.
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At the table
Inside the treaty talks.
IoJ spoke at the WHO's pandemic treaty hearings and became a partner civil society organization in the process, so our objections went on the WHO's own record.
On the record
Crimes against humanity complaints.
IoJ filed crimes against humanity complaints with the WHO's ethics office. The ethics office referred them to national authorities.
Pressure that worked
12 of 13 dropped.
More than 50,000 public comments to the U.S. government on the IHR amendments, after which 12 of the 13 U.S. proposals were dropped. Months of legal demands to Costa Rica's delegates before the 2024 World Health Assembly, where Costa Rica broke from the consensus.
The case
The WHO vouched. Countries trusted it.
In December 2020 the WHO began listing COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use. By the WHO's own description, that listing opened the door for countries to fast-track their own approvals, import the products and roll them out.
1 · The gatekeeper
A listing that moved product.
The WHO's Emergency Use Listing worked hand in hand with manufacturers, governments and a small circle of "stringent" regulators led by the U.S. FDA and the European Medicines Agency to put these products on the global market.
2 · The reliance
Countries took the WHO's word.
Many lower-income countries had no regulator able to review a novel vaccine. They relied on the WHO's assurance that the products were safe, effective and necessary.
3 · The allegation
Necessity built on fear.
We allege that "necessary" rested on mass PCR testing that counted positive tests as cases and fed fear, and that safety and effectiveness were vouched for without the evidence to back them.
4 · The claim
Fraud on the nations that relied.
We allege this was commercial conduct, not governing, and that the WHO, working with the FDA, the EMA and other stringent regulators, defrauded the countries that relied on it.
Why the United States
The strongest court to hear it.
Immunity has limits
Commercial activity.
In the U.S., the WHO's immunity is set by the International Organizations Immunities Act. The Supreme Court held in Jam v. International Finance Corp. (2019) that this immunity is no broader than a foreign government's, and the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act removes immunity for commercial activity. If the court agrees the conduct was commercial, immunity is no shield.
No longer a member
The U.S. has left the WHO.
The United States withdrew from the WHO, effective January 2026. A U.S. court can weigh the WHO's conduct without the U.S. sitting on its governing bodies.
Borrowed authority
The FDA's role.
The WHO has no regulatory power of its own. Our argument: its listings drew on authority Congress gave the U.S. FDA, chiefly the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), the WHO's leading regulatory partner. That ties the case to U.S. law and U.S. courts.
These are allegations IoJ intends to prove in court with licensed counsel. Other countries may also be proper forums. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
What comes next
Counsel, then filing.
A U.S. federal case needs licensed counsel on the brief. The Sue the WHO fund is what puts them there.
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