A first-term Maine Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill that would prohibit the state from investing public funds or entering into contracts with companies, persons or other entities associated with “perpetrator states” that have been found by international organizations to have committed “apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide or a war crime.”

The bill, LD 1383, entitled “An Act to Require State Divestment from Perpetrators of
International Human Rights Violations,” is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Rafael Macias of Topsham, and is cosponsored by seven of his House Democrat colleagues.

The bill cites definitions for “apartheid,” “genocide” and “war crime” from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), an international tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands.

On Feb. 6, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC and its head prosecutor Karim Khan for having ” engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”

The executive order came after the court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“The ICC has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant,” the executive order reads.

“The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC,” it reads. “Neither country has ever recognized the ICC’s jurisdiction, and both nations are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war.”

Rep. Macias’ bill does not specifically mention Israel, but defines a “perpetrator state” as “a state, country or governing body found by an independent and credible international body, including the United Nations, International Criminal Court or similar tribunal, to have committed the crime of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide or a war crime.”

If passed, the bill would bar the state from investing funds, including public funds managed by the Maine Public Employees Retirement System, into any company, entity, person or financial institution that “operates in, directly benefits from or is associated with a perpetrator state.”

Maine would be required to divest from any such entity within 12 months of the “perpetrator state” status determination by an international body.

The bill also directs Maine’s Office of the Treasurer to establish a commission to “monitor international human rights reports and identify potential perpetrator states,” and to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature each year.

Outlined in the bill is an exception for investments or contracts related to humanitarian aid, food, medicine or other supplies “aimed at alleviating the suffering of a population.”

Reps. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) and Mana Abdi (D-Lewiston) are cosponsors of the bill.

Both Dhalac and Abdi went on a junket to Azerbaijan last year with former Maine Department of Labor official and current director of Governor Janet Mills’ Office of New Americans Tarlan Ahmadov. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the European Parliament are among groups and organizations that have charged Azerbaijan with systematic human rights abuses in recent years.

The trip, paid for as a gift to the lawmakers by a diaspora fund associated with the Azeri government, included a visit to Shusha, a city in the long-disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan occupied militarily in 2020, resulting in the forcible displacement of over 100,000 ethnic Armenians.