The family of Francesca Albanese, a United Nations expert on the occupied Palestinian territories, sued President Trump and top officials on Wednesday, challenging the sanctions that the U.S. government imposed against her over her support for the prosecution of Israeli leaders and international companies involved in the war in Gaza.
The civil complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argued that the Trump administration breached her First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, unreasonably seizing her property without due process, and violated sanction laws. The complaint asked the court to call the sanctions unconstitutional.
The lawsuit was brought by her husband, Massimiliano Cali, and their child, not identified by name, because Ms. Albanese is barred by U.N. policy from bringing the lawsuit in her own name. The complaint said that she lost bank account access, ties to several universities, the ability to travel to the United States and access to her apartment in Washington, D.C.
“Sanctions, used appropriately, are a powerful tool to disrupt and undermine the activities of terrorists, criminals and authoritarian regimes,” the complaint said. “Sanctions are abused, however, when they seek to silence disfavored points of view and to violate the constitutional rights of people the government does not like.”
The White House, State Department, Treasury Department and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Thursday.
The Trump administration imposed the sanctions last year amid a broader effort to retaliate against critics of U.S. foreign policy, as well as pro-Palestinian activists. It also imposed sanctions on Palestinian nongovernmental organizations and judges and prosecutors in the International Criminal Court.
Ms. Albanese has campaigned to hold Israeli leaders and international corporations accountable in the International Criminal Court for their role in the war in Gaza. Israel and its allies have criticized her advocacy and work as the U.N.’s special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories.
“I have experienced enormous hardship,” Ms. Albanese said in an interview on Thursday, adding that her family members feared risking committing a felony by supporting her, including financially. “There is a criminalization of my motherhood and the family bonds I have.”
In a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council last year, Ms. Albanese detailed how arms manufacturers, banks and large asset managers like BlackRock and Vanguard profited from the increase in Israel’s military budget since the start of the war in 2023.
Palestinians and their allies view Ms. Albanese as a defender of Palestinian rights. But Israeli and American Jewish groups denounce her for accusing Israel of committing genocide, an accusation they reject. Her activism also drew criticism from the Biden administration.
Mr. Trump’s executive order in February 2025 authorized sanctions against people who assist the International Criminal Court in investigating or prosecuting U.S. personnel or allies. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sanctioned Ms. Albanese in July.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio, along with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, are the defendants in the lawsuit filed on Wednesday.
It detailed how the sanctions took a financial and professional toll on Ms. Albanese. She lost access to the global financial system, which forced her to use cash for every transaction, the complaint said. Universities like Georgetown and Columbia severed their ties with her and numerous institutions canceled her guest appearances.
The complaint said the sanctions barred her and her husband from entering the United States, preventing him from visiting the headquarters of his company, the World Bank. It added that their daughter, a U.S. citizen, can’t return to her country of birth and the family can’t reach their home in Washington.
In a news conference hosted by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday, Ms. Albanese said that fighting the sanctions was not just a personal matter. “It is a shared interest for all who believe in international law, accountability and the world governed by rules and not by force or by bullying,” she said.
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
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