Rabia Iclal Turan
21 May 2026•Update: 21 May 2026
The US Justice Department filed an emergency motion Thursday to reinstate sanctions on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, hours after the Treasury Department removed her from its sanctions list following a court order.
"UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has undermined the national security and foreign policy of the United States," Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department, said in a post on US social media company X. She added that the Trump administration is seeking "emergency relief" to defend the sanctions.
The filing argues that a district court's injunction is "fundamentally flawed," contending that "foreign citizens outside US territory do not possess rights under the US Constitution" and that Albanese, an Italian national living abroad, cannot claim First Amendment protections.
US District Judge Richard Leon ruled last week that the Trump administration likely violated Albanese's free speech rights by sanctioning her for criticizing US ally Israel's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, granting a preliminary injunction against the sanctions.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed Thursday that the US government has "temporarily removed" Albanese’s name from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list following an injunction issued May 13 by the DC District Court.
"This temporary removal does not reflect a change in policy," the spokesperson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Anadolu.
"The Government has appealed the court’s order. In the event the D.C. Circuit stays or overturns that order, the Government intends to restore Ms. Albanese’s name to the SDN List," the spokesperson added.
Albanese was sanctioned last year after she encouraged the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to pursue war crimes prosecutions against Israeli officials for their conduct in Gaza.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Albanese of waging a “campaign of political and economic warfare” against the US and Israel after a report by her identified corporations allegedly facilitating Israeli occupation on Palestinian lands, including Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Palantir.
Albanese has served as the UN Human Rights Council's special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 2022, monitoring human rights abuses against Palestinians.
The sanctions prohibited Albanese from entering the US, accessing US banking and payment systems, and engaging in business with anyone based in the country.
Albanese's husband, World Bank economist Massimiliano Cali, and their American daughter, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in February.
