U.S. advocacy groups sue Trump over ICC sanctions and Gaza speech fears

Two advocacy groups sued the Trump administration in Manhattan, saying sanctions on the International Criminal Court have chilled their ability to speak, advise and file evidence tied to Gaza. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as case 26-cv-5957, asks a judge to block Executive Order 14203 and names Donald J. Trump, the U.S. Department of State, Marco Rubio, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Scott Bessent as defendants.

Democracy for the Arab World Now, known as DAWN, and the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide, or TAAG, have pulled back from activity they view as protected political expression. The groups have refrained from filing submissions with the ICC and from coordinating with people already targeted by U.S. sanctions, including Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for Palestine, because they fear fines and possible prison terms. TAAG is a small unincorporated association formed to gather and submit evidence against U.S. officials to the court.

Trump's February 6, 2025 executive order said the ICC had engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and its ally Israel. Four days later, the Office of Foreign Assets Control added ICC Prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmad Khan to the Specially Designated Nationals list under that order. The State Department later sanctioned Albanese on July 9, 2025 under the same authority.

DAWN had already submitted an ICC communication on January 24, 2025 urging an investigation of former President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, before Trump imposed sanctions.

This week, the administration described the ICC as a threat to U.S. sovereignty and pledged to expand sanctions, including visa revocations, travel bans, broader sanctions against ICC officials and affiliated organizations, and diplomatic pressure on states to withdraw from the Rome Statute. Rubio said the effort will include increased sanctions and pressure on governments that support the court. The State Department says the lawsuit would open the door to further ICC overreach.

The ICC, based in The Hague and created in 2002, issued arrest warrants on November 21, 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza between October 8, 2023 and May 20, 2024.