US advocacy organizations sue Trump administration, allege ICC sanctions violate First Amendment – JURIST

Two US-based advocacy groups unsuspecting President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday, claiming that the sanctions imposed by Trump on members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN impede the organizations’ ability to engage in the protection of human rights related to Palestine and therefore violate The First Amendment rights.

The sanctions in question run from 2025 Executive Order (EO) mandating that prosecutors and judges at the ICC face economic penalties for their involvement in the investigation of war crimes by US forces in Afghanistan and issuing a arrest warrant for US ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Over the past year, the US, a country that does not recognize authority of the ICC, has expanded the sanctions to include several human rights organizations and the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for their support in the investigations.

Filed in federal court in Manhattan, the lawsuit against top administration officials by nonprofit advocacy organizations Democracy for the Arab world now (DAWN) and Taxpayers Alliance Against Genocide (TAAG) seeks a court order barring the administration from using EO to prevent US citizens from working with sanctioned individuals and supporting investigations into possible US human rights abuses.

Throughout their advocacy work, both organizations have worked closely with the ICC, the UN, and Albania, relying on collaborative research and preparing communications for the court and the public, documenting the role of US officials in aiding and abetting the commission of war crimes.

DAWN and TAAG assert in their complaint that the EO indicates that individuals may face criminal prosecution and civil penalties for engaging with sanctioned parties and receiving or providing “any services” from them. Because the word “service” is vague and can be interpreted broadly, organizations claim that they have had to self-censor in order to avoid scrutiny by the administration.

In addition to violating the First Amendment, DAWN and TAAG allege that Trump overstepped the bounds of his presidential authority when he called International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which prohibits the president from using economic sanctions to restrict communications and the transmission of information.

In one press releaseOmar Shakir, executive director of DAWN, said the sanctions unconstitutionally restrict American citizens from seeking justice and accountability, saying:

The Trump administration is using the open instrument of economic sanctions not only to punish human rights defenders, but to control the political expression of millions of Americans. The government is violating the constitutional rights of American citizens to protect officials of a foreign government who have committed genocide.

Their lawsuit comes just days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the US would do so start a diplomatic campaign to dismantle the ICC. Rubio indicated that the US would work with allied governments and use all the tools at the government’s disposal to dismantle the yard “brick by brick.”

In response, DAWN Director of Advocacy, Raed Jarrar DECLARING“When the most powerful country in the world aims to dismantle the world’s only permanent international court, it sends the message that the powerful are above the law. It is not the ICC that Rubio is destroying brick by brick, but the rules-based international order that emerged from the ashes of World War II.”

This is not the first lawsuit filed against the Trump administration over sanctions. In June, the ICC judges themselves were sanctioned unsuspecting president, claiming that Trump has overstepped the bounds of his legal authority. In February, Albanese’s family unsuspecting also, affirming the sanctions have had a “serious impact” on their livelihood. In May a US federal judge temporarily blocked the sanctions against the Albanian for the violation of her rights to freedom of speech. In response, however, the US then put it back on the list of sanctioned persons.