38 international civil society organizations file joint amicus brief in US lawsuit challenging Trump’s ICC sanctions
Immediate release
Vancouver, 24 September 2026 – Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) has joined Amnesty International and 36 other civil society organizations from around the world in an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief filed yesterday in a United States lawsuit challenging the legality of escalating sanctions imposed by the Donald J. Trump administration against the International Criminal Court (ICC) under Executive Order (EO) 14203, dated 6 February 2025.
The amicus brief was submitted in support of a lawsuit filed on 11 August 2026 by the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Institute (American Friends Service Committee, et al. v. Trump et al., Civil Action No. 26-cv-06830 in the District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Among those sanctioned by the Trump administration is Canadian ICC Judge Kimberly Prost. She is among 14 ICC judges and Court officials sanctioned for performing their duties as mandated by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Judge Prost was targeted for authorizing the Court’s investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan.
The Court has to vowed to remain “undeterred,” stating that it will “continue to fully discharge its mandate with independence and impartiality, in full accordance with the Rome Statute and in the interest of victims of international crimes.” Judge Prost and two other sanctioned ICC judged filed their own lawsuit challenging the executive order on 24 June 2026.
ICC-related sanctions have also been imposed against a Special Rapporteur appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, and three Palestinian human rights organizations.
The Trump administration’s escalating campaign against the ICC has been condemned by civil society organizations, including LRWC. The US has stated the intention to dismantle the ICC “brick by brick,” including demands that States Parties withdraw from the Rome Statute.
In addition to severe hardships suffered by targeted individuals and civil society organizations, the sanctions have silenced or disrupted the work of numerous civil society organizations and their networks, including victims of atrocity crimes. Some US-based human rights civil society organizations have curtailed cooperation with the ICC or dismissed their American staff out of concern for potential civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance with the Trump administration’s sanctions.
Concerns about existing or potential future sanctions are also faced by civil society organizations or victims cooperating with the ICC in countries where investigations are ongoing, including Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Myanmar/Bangladesh, Nigeria, Philippines, Sudan (Darfur), Ukraine, and Venezuela.
According to Amnesty International, the preparation of the civil society organizations’ amicus curiae submission was assisted by a report of the secretariat of the Coalition for the ICC, “Criminalising Accountability: The US lawfare against the international justice system.” The civil society organizations are represented by the New York law firm of Mascarenhas Law PLLC.
The 38 CSOs filing the brief are (in alphabetical order):
- Action for the Reform of Justice and Promotion of Human Rights (ARJPDH)
- Amnesty International
- Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP)
- Arab Coalition for the International Criminal Court (ACICC)
- Baltasar Garzón International Foundation (FIBGAR)
- Center for Development of International Law (CDIL)
- Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA)
- Centre marocain pour la loi et la paix
- Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CIPRODEH)
- Chinese Initiative on International Law (CIIL)
- Clinique de droit international pénal et humanitaire, Faculté de droit, Université Laval (CDIPH)
- COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peacebuilding-Nigeria
- Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
- Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
- European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)
- Global Justice Center
- Human Rights Now
- HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
- Indonesian Legal Aid Association for Women (APIK)
- International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
- International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net)
- Just Access
- Kurdish Organizations Network Coalition for the International Criminal Court (KONCICC)
- Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
- Libya Crimes Watch (LCW)
- No Peace Without Justice
- The Nuhanovic Foundation
- Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)
- Platform for Peace and Humanity
- Refugees in Libya
- Rights for Peace
- Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
- org
- Students for Global Democracy Uganda
- Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
- Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice
- World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
- World Without Genocide
About Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) is a organization of Canadian lawyers who promote human rights and the rule of law by conducting advocacy internationally regarding human rights defenders in danger. LRWC promotes the implementation and enforcement of international standards designed to protect the independence and security of human rights defenders around the world. LRWC was granted Special Consultative Status by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations on 21 July 2005.
Further information: www.lrwc.org; LRWC[@]lrwc.org
