Human rights groups sue Trump admin over ICC sanctions order

The four groups accuse Donald Trump of unlawfully authorizing a sanctions regime early in his second term in office, based on a “pseudo national emergency.”MANHATTAN (CN) — Four American human rights groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in New York federal court challenging the Trump administration’s sanctions on individuals and organizations affiliated with or assisting the work of the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, the Netherlands.“This is an unlawful abuse of power constituting a frontal attack on the rule of law, the independence of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, basic precepts undergirding the international legal order, and the principle of equal access to justice,” the coalition of groups wrote in the 102-page complaint they filed in the Southern District of New York. “The effect is to cause grave damage to the ability to bring to justice the perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.”The four groups — American Friends Service Committee, Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute — have referred to the direct effects of the financial sanctions as tantamount to a “financial death penalty.”The suit seeks to strike down President Donald Trump’s Feb. 6, 2025 executive order authorizing the imposition of sanctions on ICC officials, judges and others working with the court to seek justice for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.Trump declared in the order any attempt by the ICC to investigate or prosecute any citizen or ally of the United States, “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”The groups claim in the complaint the executive order is not actually based on a national emergency with respect to an unusual and extraordinary threat, as required by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.“The Sanctions Regime does all this under the guise of a pseudo ‘national emergency’ that consists of nothing more than the normal operation of the machinery of international criminal law that the United States itself helped to create,” the groups wrote.The four groups say the Trump administration has already used the executive order to sanction eight ICC judges and the three most senior ICC prosecutors for carrying out their duties as officers of the court, a United Nations expert for recommending that serious violations of international law be referred to the ICC for investigation, and three well-respected human rights organizations — Al-Haq: Law in the Service of Man, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and Palestinian Center for Human Rights — for their advocacy efforts in support of the international war crimes court.Represented by the Boston-headquartered Foley Hoag firm, the groups seek a declaration that Trump’s executive order imposes the sanctions regime ultra vires, or outside Trump’s authority.They claim the sanctions regime violates the United States’ obligations to cooperate with the United Nations and to abide by Security Council decisions under Articles 2 and 25 of the U.N. Charter, in addition to violating the Administrative Procedure Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the plaintiffs’ First and Fifth Amendment rights.The Department of State and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are named as co-defendants in the 12-count civil complaint, alongside President Donald Trump, the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC Director Bradley Smith, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, United States Department of Justice and newly confirmed U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.Representatives for the federal agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday morning.Rubio recently pledged in a video statement in July to “dismantle” the Hague-based International Criminal Court, and urged other countries to withdraw as the Trump administration significantly escalates its pressure campaign against the international tribunal.“The ICC poses an intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty — it claims the authority to prosecute and even imprison American servicemen and officials operating on behalf of America’s national interest,” Rubio’s office wrote in a statement. “Americans never signed up for this, and all American presidents since the ICC’s ratification have maintained that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Americans.”Last month, Democracy for the Arab World Now and Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide sued the Trump administration, accusing federal officials of violating constitutional free speech protections by penalizing International Criminal Court judges who called to investigate Israeli war crimes.Earlier in the year, three sanctioned ICC judges sued Trump over sanctions that they said resulted in freezes on their bank accounts, credit cards and online services, blocked financial transfers and, in some cases, lost health insurance coverage.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads