‘So Grave Is The Scale...’: UN-Appointed Panel Flags ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ In Epstein Case

Last Updated:February 18, 2026, 08:23 IST

UN experts say Epstein files point to a "global criminal enterprise" with 1200+ victims and links to powerful people; they call for an independent investigation.

A panel of independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council has said that newly released files related to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein point to what they described as a “global criminal enterprise" whose actions may amount to “crimes against humanity."

In a statement, the experts said material made public by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) indicates that the alleged offenses occurred within a wider culture shaped by supremacist ideologies, racism, entrenched corruption and extreme misogyny. They added that the documented abuse reflected the systematic commodification and dehumanization of women and girls, news agency Reuters reported.

“So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities against women and girls, that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity," the experts said in a statement.

The panel called for a comprehensive, independent and impartial probe into the allegations detailed in the documents. They also urged scrutiny into how the alleged abuse was able to continue for years without effective intervention.

The release of Epstein files follows a law approved by the US Congress in November with bipartisan backing, mandating the disclosure of all records linked to the disgraced financier. However, the UN-appointed specialists expressed alarm over what they termed “serious compliance failures and botched redactions," which they said resulted in sensitive information about victims being exposed. More than 1,200 victims have been identified in documents published to date, the report mentioned.

“The reluctance to fully disclose information or broaden investigations, has left many survivors feeling retraumatized and subjected to what they describe as ‘institutional gaslighting,'" the experts said.

The Justice Department’s disclosures have also shed light on Epstein’s associations with influential figures in politics, finance, academia and business, spanning periods before and after his 2008 guilty plea to prostitution-related charges, including soliciting a minor. Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges; authorities ruled his death a suicide.

News world ‘So Grave Is The Scale...’: UN-Appointed Panel Flags ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ In Epstein Case

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