UN Experts Warn ‘Epstein Files’ May Reveal Crimes Against Humanity, Urge Global Accountability

“The ‘Epstein Files’ contain disturbing and credible evidence of systematic and large-scale sexual abuse, trafficking and exploitation of women and girls,” the experts said.

United Nations human rights experts have issued a stark warning that the so-called “Epstein Files” contain disturbing and credible evidence of systematic, large-scale sexual abuse, trafficking, and exploitation of women and girls, with reported crimes potentially meeting the legal threshold for crimes against humanity.

“The ‘Epstein Files’ contain disturbing and credible evidence of systematic and large-scale sexual abuse, trafficking and exploitation of women and girls,” the experts said.

According to the experts, the alleged acts documented could amount to some of the gravest violations under international law, including sexual slavery, torture, enforced disappearance, reproductive violence, and femicide.

“A Global Criminal Enterprise” With Terrifying Implications

The experts described the disclosures as pointing to the possible existence of a transnational criminal network operating with alarming impunity.

“These crimes were committed against a backdrop of supremacist beliefs, racism, corruption, extreme misogyny, and the commodification and dehumanisation of women and girls,” they said.

“The ‘Epstein Files’, which are suggestive of the existence of a global criminal enterprise, have shocked the conscience of humanity and raised terrifying implications of the level of impunity for such crimes.”

Potential Threshold of Crimes Against Humanity

The UN experts said the scale, systematic nature, and international reach of the alleged atrocities may reasonably meet the definition of crimes against humanity under international criminal law.

“So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities… that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity,” they said.

Crimes against humanity occur when acts such as rape, trafficking, sexual slavery, torture, enforced prostitution, persecution, or murder are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians, with knowledge of the attack.

The experts warned that reported patterns in the files may meet this standard and must be prosecuted wherever jurisdiction exists.

Call for Independent and Impartial Investigations

The experts stressed that all allegations contained in the files require urgent, thorough, and independent investigation, including scrutiny of how such crimes could persist for so long.

“All the allegations… are egregious in nature and require independent, thorough, and impartial investigation,” they said.

They also called for inquiries into institutional failures that enabled prolonged abuse and trafficking.

Massive Disclosure Under Transparency Act

The disclosure process is unfolding under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law on 19 November 2025.

On 30 January 2026, after delays, the US Department of Justice released a major tranche of evidence, including:

• More than 3 million pages of material

• 2,000 videos

• 180,000 images

The experts said the unprecedented scale of the release underscores both the enormity of the alleged enterprise and the urgent need for accountability.

Victim Privacy Breaches and Botched Redactions

Despite the disclosures, the experts warned of serious compliance failures, including botched redactions that exposed sensitive victim information.

“Grave errors in the release process underscore the urgent need for victim-centered standard operating procedures for disclosure and redaction,” they said.

They cautioned that harm often occurred before records were withdrawn, further retraumatising survivors.

Survivors Face Retaliation, Stigma, and “Institutional Gaslighting”

The experts praised the courage of survivors pursuing justice at great personal cost, noting that some recently met with the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

“The failure to safeguard their privacy puts them at risk of retaliation and stigma,” they said.

They warned that reluctance to fully disclose information or broaden investigations has left many survivors feeling retraumatised and subjected to what they described as “institutional gaslighting.”

Urgent Demands: Full Disclosure, Reparations, End to Impunity

The experts urged US authorities to:

• Remedy disclosure failures

• Ensure full transparency to expose the methods of the criminal enterprise

• Provide full reparations and remedies for victims

• Lift statutes of limitations blocking prosecution of grave crimes

• Pursue criminal accountability beyond resignations

“Any suggestion that it is time to move on from the ‘Epstein Files’ is unacceptable,” they said.

“It represents a failure of responsibility towards victims.”

They stressed that resignations alone are no substitute for prosecutions.

Global Call to Investigate Powerful Individuals

The experts welcomed steps by some governments to investigate current and former officials and private individuals named in the files, urging other states to follow suit.

“Failure by governments to effectively investigate and prosecute… risks undermining legal frameworks aimed at preventing and responding to violence against women and girls,” they warned.

“It is imperative that governments act decisively to hold perpetrators accountable,” the experts said.

“No one is too wealthy or too powerful to be above the law.”