The family of UN human rights rapporteur Francesca Albanese has filed a lawsuit over sanctions imposed on her by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Albanese’s husband and children filed the lawsuit Thursday. The sanctions claim to be an effort to punish Albanon for drawing attention to Israel’s continued rights violations against Palestinians.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Albanese, a legal scholar, has served as special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza since 2022, monitoring human rights violations against Palestinians. The United Nations Human Rights Council selected her for the position.
But the Trump administration sanctioned her last July, calling her “unfit” for the role and accusing her of “biased and malign activity” against the United States and its ally Israel.
It also highlighted her work at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which on her recommendation issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in Gaza.
But Albanese’s family defended her comments, saying they were expressions of free speech protected by the First Amendment.
“Francesca’s opinions on the facts she discovered in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the activities of the ICC are core First Amendment activities,” the complaint states.
The role of recording abuse
Albanese, an Italian national, has long been criticized by the Israeli government and its U.S. allies for criticizing violence against Palestinians.
Her international profile has increased since Israel began its genocidal war in Gaza on October 8, 2023. More than 75,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict, according to experts and local health officials.
In March 2024, six months after the start of the war, Albanians testified in a report that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that the standards for genocide outlined in the United Nations Genocide Convention had been achieved in Gaza.
Israel rejected the findings. Meanwhile, Albanese said she faced threats after speaking at the United Nations.
Her public role and fierce condemnation of Israeli abuses have made her a frequent target of the ire of Israeli and US authorities.
But in Thursday’s lawsuit, Albanese’s family questioned whether U.S. sanctions powers should be used to suppress allegations of human rights abuses.
They also emphasized Albanese’s status as a mother to the American people.
“The heart of this case concerns whether a defendant can sanction a person and ruin his or her life or the lives of loved ones, including the daughter of a citizen, because the defendant disagrees with its recommendations or fears its persuasiveness,” the court filing states.
However, the US State Department dismissed the lawsuit as a “baseless legal action”. It insists the sanctions against Albanians are “lawful and appropriate.”
Extensive campaign in the US
Sanctions typically freeze a U.S.-based individual’s assets and prohibit anyone else in the U.S. from doing business with that individual.
Since returning for a second term, Mr. Trump has used sanctions to punish several people in addition to the Albanons who criticize Israeli and U.S. actions.
Last June, the Trump administration sanctioned four ICC judges for “unlawful and groundless actions” against the United States and Israel. Two more ICC judges and two prosecutors were also sanctioned in August.
As recently as December, two other ICC judges were added to the list for their involvement in the investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
A growing number of academics, rights groups and international organizations are claiming that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
But Israel and the United States largely dispute that assessment. They also question whether the ICC has jurisdiction in their country.
The United States and Israel are not parties to the ICC’s founding document, the Rome Statute, but both have been accused of rights abuses in member states.
In Mr. Albanese’s case, the U.S. government accused him of anti-Semitism and of promoting a boycott of American companies involved in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.
In announcing the sanctions, the U.S. State Department said it “will not tolerate acts of political or economic warfare that threaten our national interests and sovereignty.”
But Albanese said she remains focused on her work despite the disruption to her life.
“My daughter is American. I live in the United States and have some assets in the United States. So, of course, it will hurt me,” Ms. Albanese said after the sanctions were announced.
“What can I do? I did everything I did with integrity, and I know that, but my commitment to justice is more important than personal gain.”
