Human Rights Watch sues Trump administration over sanctions on ICC

Human Rights Watch and three advocacy groups have sued the Trump administration over sanctions targeting the ICC. They argue the measures are unlawful and are obstructing efforts to prosecute grave international crimes.

In Short

• Complaint was filed in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday
• Plaintiffs say penalties curbed legal and human rights work worldwide
• Groups cite First and Fifth Amendment protections and religious freedom law

Human Rights Watch and three other advocacy groups have sued the Trump administration, challenging its campaign against the International Criminal Court and arguing that US sanctions are undermining efforts to prosecute people responsible for the world’s gravest crimes.

The complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, says President Donald Trump’s executive order last year targeting the Hague-based court, along with US sanctions against a UN human rights expert and three Palestinian rights groups, amounts to a “blatantly illegal attack on international justice and should be struck down”, according to a press release.

The lawsuit is the latest pushback from organisations that say the Trump administration has been trying to weaken international law and block efforts to fight impunity by governments around the world. Andrew Loewenstein of Foley Hoag LLP, the lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said, “The fact that so many leading human rights and humanitarian organisations have come together to challenge Trump’s unlawful executive order demonstrates the widespread harm it is causing across civil society groups dedicated to bringing those responsible for grave crimes to justice.”

The groups say the financial and legal penalties against the ICC have forced them to “curtail a wide range of human rights and legal work in violation of their First and Fifth Amendment rights under the US Constitution and under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” The other organisations in the case are the American Friends Service Committee, the Centre for Constitutional Rights and the Open Society Institute.

The case comes as the ICC faces heavy pressure internally and from its more than 120 member states. Among those sanctioned by the US last year was Karim Khan, who was the ICC’s chief prosecutor until he was removed from the post last month, nearly two years after sexual misconduct allegations against him first emerged.

The Trump administration imposed those sanctions on Khan and a dozen other ICC staff in response to warrants issued by the court for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over the war in Gaza, as well as investigations into US personnel in Afghanistan.

Since then, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US was launching a “sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to US sovereignty.” In a video message last month, Rubio said the US would pressure member states to leave the court, sanction organisations working with it and ban staff from travelling to the United States. Countries that “enjoy the benefits of the US security umbrella” would be asked to reject the court’s jurisdiction over US citizens, he added.

Several countries, including Venezuela, announced plans to withdraw from the court shortly after Rubio’s remarks and Khan’s removal. The lawsuit now before the New York court challenges the US sanctions regime and says it is damaging the work of groups trying to support international justice.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends