© 2026 Laura Prieto Uribe/Human Rights WatchFour human rights groups (the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Institute) filed a lawsuit in US federal court challenging the Trump administration’s sanctions against ICC prosecutors and judges, a UN human rights expert, and three Palestinian human rights groups. “This executive order seeks to intimidate human rights defenders and deter people of conscience from advocating for the rights and dignity of others. To date, the Trump administration has used the order to sanction ICC prosecutors, eight ICC judges, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, and three leading Palestinian human rights groups. Sanctioned individuals and the Palestinian human rights groups have experienced frozen or closed bank accounts, rejection of financial transactions, denial of access to digital services, and travel bans. The executive order profoundly damages the plaintiffs’ ability to collaborate with others, including the sanctioned Palestinian human rights groups, thereby harming their ability to protect human rights and advance the cause of justice.