The Trump administration’s
escalating campaign
against the International Criminal Court (ICC) is reaching far beyond the judges, prosecutors, and human rights groups it has sanctioned, chilling civil society engagement with the Court and undermining victims’ access to justice, Amnesty International, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and 36 other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) said today.
We will not sit back and let President Trump destroy the Rome Statute
Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International
On 22 September 2026, 38 civil society groups jointly filed an amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) brief with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in support of a lawsuit filed by the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Institute, which challenges the legality of sanctions imposed under Executive Order (EO) 14203. The sanctions have targeted ICC prosecutors and judges, a UN human rights expert, and three Palestinian human rights groups.
“Behind every civil society organization being silenced or pushed away from the ICC are victims and survivors waiting for justice. These sanctions are disrupting the networks of people and organizations that stand with victims who bring their stories and evidence before the Court, and spreading fear far beyond those directly targeted,” said Alexis Deswaef, President of FIDH.
“For victims who have already been failed by justice at home, closing these pathways can mean losing one of their last chances for accountability.”
“As the Trump administration steps up its attacks on the ICC and the civil society organizations essential to its work, it is crucial to demonstrate to the US Federal Court how sanctions are harming global civil society, victims and survivors of crimes under international law, and the very idea of international justice,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty Internatio
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