Human Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration Over ICC Sanctions For Israel Investigations

Two human rights groups have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its investigations into Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, arguing the measures have illegally restricted their ability to advocate for Palestinians.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan by DAWN and the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide, names top administration officials as defendants and seeks a court order that would strike down restrictions on their advocacy and their ability to interact with Palestinian human rights groups and other sanctioned parties.

"The Trump administration is using the blunt instrument of economic sanctions not only to punish human rights defenders but to police the political expressions of millions of Americans," said Omar Shakir, executive director of DAWN, a US-based group founded by Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in 2018. "The government is violating the constitutional rights of American citizens in order to shield officials of a foreign government who have committed a genocide," he said, according to AP.

ICC Sanctions And Executive Order

The Hague-based ICC has been investigating allegations of war crimes in Gaza during the war that began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. A panel of judges issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, which Netanyahu called "absurd.” Neither the US nor Israel is a member of the court or recognises its authority.

In response to the arrest warrants, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order last year that accused the ICC of engaging in "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel" and warned of "tangible and significant consequences" for those responsible. Over the past year, the US has imposed sanctions on Palestinian human rights groups, a series of ICC judges and staff, the court's former chief prosecutor, and Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza.

Chilling Effect On Advocacy

The lawsuit states that DAWN has already halted work on submissions to the ICC about Israel's conduct during the war, stopped exchanging evidence and legal analysis with sanctioned non-government organisations, and abstained from collaborating with them on advocacy campaigns. It has also been forced to "discontinue its professional engagements with Albanese.”

"The chilling effect on Plaintiffs has been profound," the lawsuit states. "They now face prison terms and ruinous fines if, in their interactions with the designated parties, they provide or receive anything that Defendants could plausibly characterise as a 'service' a term that potentially reaches any act that confers a benefit on its recipient. Fearing liability, Plaintiffs and countless others like them, have turned to self-censorship."

The State Department said the campaign against the court could include additional sanctions or visa revocations and travel bans for ICC employees as well as "increased scrutiny" of nations that don't reject ICC authority.