U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed sanctions typically reserved for terrorists and criminal networks on a United Nations expert and senior International Criminal Court officials, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s confrontation with global justice institutions, a Reuters investigation found.
The sanctions targeted Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on Palestinian rights, along with ICC judges and prosecutors involved in war crimes investigations linked to Israel and past U.S. military actions. The measures froze assets, shut down bank accounts and disrupted ongoing international criminal probes, according to interviews with more than two dozen U.S. officials, U.N. diplomats, ICC staff and sanctioned individuals.
Albanese was sanctioned after sending letters to major U.S. companies warning they could be named in a U.N. report for allegedly contributing to human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank. At least two companies sought White House intervention, Reuters found. Despite U.N. assurances that Albanese holds diplomatic immunity, the administration accused her of issuing “threatening letters” and encouraging ICC investigations into American and Israeli interests.
The action was part of a broader executive order used to sanction ICC judges and prosecutors, placing them on the U.S. Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals list alongside terror suspects and drug traffickers. Current and former officials told Reuters the move was intended, in part, to deter any future attempts to hold Trump or U.S. officials legally accountable for overseas military actions.
Reuters found internal divisions within the U.S. government over the timing and scope of the sanctions. Career diplomats urged restraint, while senior political appointees pushed for aggressive measures to cripple the ICC and silence Albanese. Ultimately, the harder line prevailed.
Legal experts told Reuters the move represents a historic break with past U.S. practice. While Washington has long criticized international courts, sanctioning a U.N.-mandated expert and a large share of ICC judges crosses a new threshold that could weaken international accountability mechanisms.
The ICC condemned the sanctions and vowed to continue its work. Albanese, whose accounts were frozen and travel restricted, said she was being punished for her human rights work and vowed to continue her mandate despite personal and professional fallout.
“This is not about law,” Albanese told Reuters. “It is about power.”
