US judge bars Trump from punishing rights groups for liaising with ICC

A federal judge this week blocked the Trump administration from potentially imposing civil or criminal liability on two US-based human rights groups that carry out work in "service" of International Criminal Court (ICC) cases. Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York said the plaintiffs "demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the [presidential executive] Order violates their First Amendment rights to speak", and that "[t]he loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury". Furman then issued a preliminary injunction blocking any speech-based punitive measures against the two groups in question. In July, Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), founded by the late Middle East Eye columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide (Taag), said they felt compelled to immediately go to court after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in an opinion piece that the US was willing to dismantle the ICC "brick by brick". A month later, four other US-based rights groups sued the Trump administration over its sanctions on the ICC, insisting that Trump's power to sanction the court is "based on a pseudo national emergency that has no basis in fact", the groups said. That case is separate and ongoing. Read more: US judge bars Trump from punishing rights groups for liaising with ICC US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio participate in a Shield of the Americas event during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York City, on 22 September 2026 (Reuters/Kylie Cooper)