The United States withdrew its sanctions on U.N. Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese following a U.S. court intervention.The Trump administration sanctioned Albanese last year over her heavy criticism of Israel’s military conduct in Gaza, including claims that it amounted to genocide. Albanese’s husband and daughter sued on free speech grounds, and U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in their favor. On Wednesday, the Department of the Treasury announced it was complying with the ruling, withdrawing Albanese from its sanctions list in a simple notice on its website.In his ruling, Leon argued that the unilaterally imposed sanctions against Albanese violated her First Amendment rights, and also that President Donald Trump exceeded his sanctioning authority with the designation.
Sanctions from the U.S. prevent those targeted from accessing the economic infrastructure of the U.S. and forbid businesses and individuals from doing business with them. The sanctions extend well beyond the U.S., as institutions in Europe and elsewhere will often refuse to do business with those targeted over fears of secondhand effects.
Albanese and her family have suffered under the sanctions, he said, outlining how Albanese had been “fully unbanked and cannot make or receive payments through the financial system.” She was removed from her joint bank account with her husband, was denied bank accounts at several European banks, her husband’s employer-sponsored health insurer has “refused to pay [her] health expenses,” and several universities, including Georgetown and Columbia, cut longstanding ties with her.
