Four US human rights groups sue Trump administration over ICC sanctions campaign

On August 11, 2026, four prominent US human rights groups filed a federal lawsuit in New York challenging the Trump administration's sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). The plaintiffs argue that the February 2025 executive order, which retaliated against ICC investigations into Israeli and US actions, violates their constitutional rights to free speech and due process. This legal challenge comes amid a broader US campaign led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to dismantle the court.

Lawsuit against Trump administration

• ▪The August 11, 2026 lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, seeks to end the US sanctions regime against the International Criminal Court, arguing it exceeds presidential authority and violates international and US law.
• ▪On August 11, 2026, four US human rights groups—the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Institute—filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Trump administration's sanctions against the International Criminal Court.
• ▪The August 11, 2026 lawsuit follows previous legal challenges against the sanctions, including lawsuits by the advocacy groups Democracy in the Arab World Now, the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide, three sitting International Criminal Court judges, and United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese's family.

ICC sanctions executive order

• ▪President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February 2025 authorizing sanctions on International Criminal Court officials, judges, and others supporting investigations into alleged Israeli war crimes in Palestine and US personnel actions in Afghanistan.
• ▪A similar executive order targeting the International Criminal Court issued by Donald Trump in 2020 was blocked by a federal judge before being rescinded by the Biden administration in 2021.
• ▪Individuals placed under US sanctions over their work for the International Criminal Court have faced travel bans, frozen bank accounts, and denied access to digital services, which has also hindered non-targeted rights groups from collaborating with them.

Israeli officials arrest warrants

• ▪The US government escalated its actions against the International Criminal Court after the court's prosecutor issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged crimes in Gaza.
• ▪During a July 31, 2026 cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump stated that the US campaign against the International Criminal Court was aimed at defending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others rather than himself.

Constitutional rights violations

• ▪The four plaintiff organizations argue that the US sanctions against the International Criminal Court violate their First and Fifth Amendment rights, as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, by forcing them to curtail human rights and legal work.
• ▪Federal judges in Maine and New York ruled in 2025 that Donald Trump's executive order targeting the International Criminal Court violated the constitutional rights of individual advocates and academics.

US campaign against ICC

• ▪In July 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a diplomatic campaign to dismantle the International Criminal Court by pressuring member states to withdraw and sanctioning collaborating organizations.
• ▪Following US pressure and Secretary of State Marco Rubio's announcements, several countries, including Chad, Venezuela, and Niger, announced plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.

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