US judge bars Trump from punishing rights groups for liaising with ICC

US judge bars Trump from punishing rights groups for liaising with ICC A federal judge this week blocked the Trump administration from potentially imposing civil or criminal liability on two US-based human rights groups that carry out work in "service" of International Criminal Court (ICC) cases. Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York said the plaintiffs "demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the [presidential executive] Order violates their First Amendment rights to speak", and that "[t]he loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury". Furman then issued a preliminary injunction blocking any speech-based punitive measures against the two groups in question.

In July, Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), founded by the late Middle East Eye columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide (Taag), said they felt compelled to immediately go to court after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in an opinion piece that the US was willing to dismantle the ICC "brick by brick". A month later, four other US-based rights groups sued the Trump administration over its sanctions on the ICC, insisting that Trump's power to sanction the court is "based on a pseudo national emergency that has no basis in fact", the groups said. US judge bars Trump from punishing rights groups for liaising with ICC Submitted by MEE staff on Thu, 10/15/2026 - 15:47 Democracy for the Arab World Now, founded by the late Middle East Eye columnist Jamal Khashoggi, filed a lawsuit in July US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio participate in a Shield of the Americas event during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York City, on 22 September 2026 (Reuters/Kylie Cooper) Off A federal judge this week blocked the Trump administration from potentially imposing civil or criminal liability on two US-based human rights groups that carry out work in "service" of International Criminal Court (ICC) cases.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); This week's court order pointed out that Dawn has made several submissions to the ICC "concerning alleged atrocity crimes by Israeli officials in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the role of US officials in aiding and abetting those crimes". The aim in filing these submissions "[was] not merely to encourage an ICC investigation but also to serve a broader expressive and public advocacy purpose, including by build[ing] public pressure on state actors to obey the law". Dawn has now confirmed it is continuing its work.