Human Rights Lawyers Sue Trump for Halting Work on War Crimes Cases

A group of U.S. human rights lawyers are suing the Trump administration over an executive order that halted their work pursuing justice for war crimes victims around the world.

In June, Trump issued an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, some of which involve American troops.

The ICC criticized the sanctions calling the move “an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court’s judicial proceedings” and “an attack against the interests of victims of atrocity crimes.”

The sanctions have forced lawyers to cancel speeches and presentations, end research and writing, and halt assistance to victims of atrocities which, they assert, amounts to a significant infringement of their constitutional right to free speech, The Guardian reports.

The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in New York by four U.S.-based law professors, all acting in their private capacities, and the Open Society Justice Initiative, all arguing that the executive order interferes with the lawyers’ abilities to work with the ICC according to The Guardian.

Andrew Loewenstein, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, told The Guardian that sanctions are historically used against those who violated human rights, not those trying to obtain justice for victims.

“It’s never been used in a circumstance like this, where the ultimate target of the sanctions are the the prosecutor and others of senior officials of the international criminal court, who are engaged in wide-ranging efforts to prosecute and investigate international crimes including crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide,” he said.

The Trump administration is not known for having a strong record of protecting human rights. Human Rights Watch has outlined how the U.S. has continuously undermined multilateral institutions and international judicial bodies as well as violated the rights of immigrants and Black Americans.

Police brutality and militarization in the U.S. have drawn international scrutiny from human rights groups, signaling a grave threat to democracy and civil liberties. Freedom House, an organization that identifies global threats to democracy, political freedom, and human rights, has accused Trump of undermining the pillars of freedom.

“No president in living memory has shown less respect for its tenets, norms and principles,” Freedom House President Michael Abramowitz wrote.

Read about more the fight for racial justice across the country and why racism and the killings of Black Americans is a public health crisis.

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