Four American human rights organizations have filed a lawsuit against the administration of US President Donald Trump, accusing it of using sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) to undermine international efforts to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court, the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute argued that the US government’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court and those who support its work are a “blatant and unlawful attack on international justice.”
“This is an unlawful abuse of power that is a direct attack on the rule of law, the independence of judges, prosecutors and lawyers, fundamental principles underpinning the international legal order and the principle of equal access to justice. The result is to seriously undermine the ability to bring to justice perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the groups said.
The lawsuit challenges Trump’s February 2025 executive order authorizing sanctions against officials, judges and others involved in the International Criminal Court’s investigation into Israeli crimes in Palestine, one of 18 investigations the court is conducting into war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Although the United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court and has long opposed its work, pressure intensified after the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of War Yoav Gallant in November 2024 for crimes in Gaza.
The United States subsequently sanctioned ICC prosecutors, judges, three prominent Palestinian human rights groups, and Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories.
