According to the experts, the reported behavior could amount to sexual slavery, reproductive violence, enforced disappearance, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and femicide.
“The scale, nature, systematic nature and transnational reach of these atrocities against women and girls are so serious that some of them could reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity,” they said.
Threshold for crimes against humanity
Under international criminal law, crimes against humanity occur when acts such as rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, human trafficking, persecution, torture or murder are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.
The experts said the patterns reported in the files may meet this threshold and should be prosecuted in all competent national and international courts.
The disclosure process stems from the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law on November 19, 2025. On January 30, 2026, after delays, the United States Department of Justice released a large amount of material consisting of more than three million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.
Background to the case
Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in a New York prison cell in August 2019 at the age of 66, found himself in circles of national and international politicians, celebrities and business people. He faced criminal investigations in the United States over allegations that he set up a system to recruit and sexually exploit young girls – many of them underage and in vulnerable circumstances.
His associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of sex trafficking and other crimes in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. However, questions remain about the possible involvement of additional individuals, financial structures and possible transnational dimensions of the alleged criminal enterprise.
Independent, thorough and impartial investigation
The experts praised the courage and resilience of victims in seeking accountability at significant personal cost, and emphasized that states are obliged under international human rights law to prevent, investigate and punish violence against women and girls, including acts committed by private actors.
They added that “all allegations in the ‘Epstein Files’ are egregious in nature and require independent, thorough and impartial investigations, as well as investigations to determine how such crimes were allowed to continue for so long.”
“These crimes were committed against a backdrop of supremacist beliefs, racism, corruption, extreme misogyny and the commercialization and dehumanization of women and girls from different parts of the world,” they said.
Tribute to survivors
The experts also noted “serious flaws” in the disclosure process, including the exposure of sensitive victim information, and emphasized the urgent need for victim-centered standard procedures for disclosure and redaction so that no victim suffers further harm.
“The inability to protect their privacy puts them at risk of retaliation and stigmatization,” the experts warned.
Hold perpetrators accountable
They further underlined that “the dismissal of individuals involved alone is not an adequate substitute for criminal liability,” and welcomed moves by some governments to investigate current and former officials and private individuals named in the files. They called on other states to do the same.
“Any suggestion that it is time to move on from the ‘Epstein files’ is unacceptable. It represents a lack of responsibility to the victims,” they said.
“It is imperative that governments act decisively to hold perpetrators accountable,” the experts said. “No one is too rich or too powerful to be above the law.”
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