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Rights groups sue over ICC sanctions and US executive order
The lawsuit says US penalties have curtailed human rights and legal work, alleging violations of First and Fifth Amendment rights.
Human Rights Watch and three other advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging its campaign against the International Criminal Court, arguing that sanctions aimed at ICC judges and prosecutors undermine the court’s ability to prosecute people responsible for mass atrocities. According to the complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the plaintiffs cite two actions, an executive order last year targeting the Hague-based court and US sanctions issued against a United Nations human rights expert and three Palestinian rights groups. The groups call the measures a “blatantly illegal attack on international justice” and ask that they be struck down, the filing states. The plaintiffs argue the financial and legal penalties have forced them to curtail a wide range of human rights and legal work, saying this violates constitutional protections under the First and Fifth Amendments as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Lead counsel Andrew Loewenstein of Foley Hoag LLP said the coalition’s action reflects widespread harm to civil society organizations working to bring those accused of grave crimes to justice. Other organizations joining the case include the American Friends Service Committee, the Centre for Constitutional Rights, and the Open Society Institute. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the Associated Press reported.