Four U.S. human rights organizations have taken legal action against President Donald Trump’s administration for imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), which they argue are illegal. The American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Institute filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday.
The lawsuit alleges that Trump overstepped his authority by issuing an executive order in February 2025 that allowed sanctions against ICC personnel, as well as foreign individuals or entities supporting the court. This move was in response to the ICC issuing arrest warrants in late 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes in Gaza, accusations that Israel has denied.
The plaintiffs claim that the sanctions have restricted their ability to carry out human rights and legal activities, violating their constitutional rights, including freedom of speech. Liz Evenson, the international justice director at Human Rights Watch, stated during an online news conference that the Trump administration’s actions undermine the rule of law necessary for safety and human rights protection worldwide.
The White House responded to CBC inquiries regarding the lawsuit by labeling the ICC as politicized and asserting the U.S.’s right to protect its sovereignty and allies from what it deems as illegitimate actions by the court.
The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, investigates and prosecutes individuals accused of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and aggression. The U.S. has had a strained relationship with the court for many years, particularly escalating under the Trump administration, which sanctioned the ICC’s former chief prosecutor and several judges, including Canada’s Kimberly Prost.
In a separate development, U.S. legal groups sought a court ruling on Tuesday to prevent the Trump administration from imposing restrictions on birthright citizenship, following the Supreme Court’s refusal in late June to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to unauthorized or temporarily present parents. Despite the Supreme Court ruling, Trump issued executive orders aiming to limit birthright citizenship, prompting legal challenges from civil liberties groups asserting that the government cannot undermine citizenship rights through executive orders.
