Four American human rights organisations filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in New York against President Donald Trump, challenging sanctions imposed by his administration on judges, prosecutors, and bodies connected to the International Criminal Court. The organisations said these measures restrict victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity from accessing the court.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Friends Service Committee, Constitutional Rights Center, Human Rights Watch, and Open Society Institute in a 101-page petition. The organisations accused the Trump administration of using the sanctions system against the court to weaken efforts to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In the lawsuit, they say the sanctions constitute "unlawful abuse of power" and an attack on justice, judicial independence, the autonomy of judges and prosecutors, and the principles of the international legal system and equal access to courts. The lawsuit challenges an executive order signed by Trump in February 2025, which authorised sanctions against court officials, judges, and others supporting investigations into Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
The organisations said the sanctions cover eight judges and three prosecutors general, plus a United Nations expert and three human rights organisations. Individuals sanctioned for their work with the court face travel bans, frozen or closed bank accounts, and loss of access to digital services. The organisations said the dominance of American financial and technology institutions means the impact of sanctions also extends to their access to services in other countries.
Katherine Gallagher, lead counsel at the Constitutional Rights Center who represents victims before the International Criminal Court, said at a Tuesday press conference that the sanctions system and threats of strict criminal and civil prosecution had driven her to stop practising before the court. "Victims of international crimes from Sudan and Ukraine to Palestine and Afghanistan need an independent and strong international criminal court capable of carrying out its mission of ending impunity," she said.
James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Foundations Justice Initiative, said the sanctions are an attack on justice and the independence of judges, prosecutors, and civil society within and outside the United States. He added that the executive order protects war crimes perpetrators from accountability while punishing those seeking to pursue them.
Tuesday's lawsuit follows another suit filed last month by Arab World Democracy Now and Alliance of Taxpayers Against Genocide. Some individuals under sanctions have themselves filed legal challenges, including relatives of Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Palestine, and three sitting judges at the International Criminal Court.
