Four human rights organizations filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on 11 August 2026, challenging sanctions the Trump administration has imposed on prosecutors and judges at the International Criminal Court, on a United Nations human rights expert, and on three Palestinian rights organizations.
The plaintiffs are the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Institute, which is part of the Open Society Foundations. They are represented by lawyers from the firm Foley Hoag LLP.
The order at the center of the case
The suit targets an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on 6 February 2025. The order authorizes sanctions against ICC officials and judges, and against others who work with the court in pursuing accountability for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The complaint argues that the order exceeds the president’s authority and rests on a declared national emergency with no basis in fact. The organizations also say the sanctions compel them to cut back a broad range of legal and human rights work, in violation of their rights under the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. They describe the measures as an unlawful and blatant attack on international justice, and ask the court to strike them down.
What is at stake beyond the plaintiffs
The organizations argue that the sanctions regime, and the executive order underpinning it, undermine the ability of victims of grave international crimes anywhere in the world to seek justice, and prevent civil society groups from working together against impunity.
The practical effect of sanctions of this kind reaches well past the individuals named. Because U.S. sanctions carry secondary consequences for banks, software providers and anyone transacting with a designated person, organizations that are not themselves listed may still find they cannot safely share evidence, pay staff or communicate with colleagues connected to the court.
The ICC, seated in The Hague, is the only permanent international tribunal with jurisdiction to try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute that created it.
This report was produced by the HuMedia newsroom.
