Two human rights groups, DAWN and Taxpayers Alliance Against Genocide, have filed a lawsuit against top administration officials over Trump administration sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its investigations into Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Background

The ICC has been investigating allegations of war crimes in Gaza during the war that began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. A panel of judges issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu has called the warrants ‘absurd.’

The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the ICC, including Palestinian human rights groups, ICC judges and staffers, and the U.N. special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza. The sanctions have forced the human rights groups to censor their own advocacy work to avoid scrutiny from the White House.

Lawsuit

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, seeks a court order that would strike down the restrictions on the human rights groups’ advocacy and their ability to interact with Palestinian human rights groups and other sanctioned parties. The groups argue that the sanctions have illegally impeded their ability to advocate for Palestinians and have forced them to self-censor their work.

Omar Shakir, the executive director of DAWN, said, ‘The Trump administration is using the blunt instrument of economic sanctions not only to punish human rights defenders but to police the political expressions of millions of Americans.’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denounced the ICC, pledging to ‘dismantle the ICC — brick by brick, if necessary.’

Original reporting: KTSA News/Talk (San Antonio) — read the source article.