Advocates for Palestinian rights in the US filed a lawsuit in a New York City federal court on Wednesday, seeking an injunction to stop the Trump administration's enforcement of sanctions against groups or individuals liaising with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
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 earlier this week that the US is willing to dismantle the ICC "brick by brick".
In the early weeks of his presidency, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14203, granting US officials the power to impose sanctions on foreigners for supporting the ICC's investigations into US and Israeli nationals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
He made it a federal offence to provide a "service" to - or receive one from - a sanctioned individual or entity.
ICC investigations, the Trump administration said, constitute a "national emergency" because the ICC lacks jurisdiction over crimes committed by US and Israeli nationals during wartime.
