US imposes ‘terrorist-grade sanctions’ on UN expert, ICC judges amid Gaza accountability drive

The United States has imposed what critics describe as “terrorist-grade sanctions” on a United Nations human rights expert and multiple judges and prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC), an investigative report has pointed out.

Reuters published the report on Friday, suggesting that the move had extended punitive economic measures traditionally reserved for criminals and terror suspects to international legal officials examining the Israeli regime’s war crimes in Gaza.

According to the investigation, the Trump administration has placed Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, along with senior ICC staff, on the US Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals list, freezing assets and cutting access to the global financial system.

Reuters reported that US officials have tried to justify the measures by accusing the ICC of pursuing “illegitimate and baseless” investigations into Israeli officials over the regime’s war of genocide on Gaza, as well as past probes involving US military personnel.

The move followed arrest warrants issued by the ICC in November 2024 for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his minister for military affairs at the time, Yoav Gallant, on charges including war crimes and crimes against humanity, notably the use of starvation as a method of warfare against Gazans.

Corporate pressure and Albanese’ letters

The investigation found that the sanctions against Albanese were preceded by confidential letters she sent to more than a dozen US companies, warning they could be named in a UN report for “contributing to gross violations of human rights” linked to Israeli military operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Companies contacted included Alphabet, Amazon, Caterpillar, Chevron, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, and Palantir.

At least two companies sought help from the White House after receiving the letters, US officials told Reuters.

The Trump administration later cited the correspondence as evidence that Albanese was conducting what it described as “political and economic warfare.”

Under the same executive order, Washington sanctioned eight ICC judges and several prosecutors, including officials involved in authorizing investigations related to Gaza and Afghanistan.

Those targeted were added to the same sanctions list used for suspected al-Qaeda affiliates, drug traffickers, and arms proliferators.

Legal experts cited by Reuters said targeting judges and UN mandate holders marked a sharp escalation in the use of US sanctions.

The United Nations has said Albanese enjoyed diplomatic immunity in relation to her official duties and that this status had been communicated directly to US authorities. Despite this, Washington proceeded with sanctions.

“It is clear that my diplomatic immunity has not been respected,” Albanese told the agency, adding that responsibility lay with member states’ failure to act decisively.

The US State Department said its correspondence with the UN had focused on calls for Albanese’s removal and rejected the court’s jurisdiction over US and Israeli individuals.

Big picture

According to the report, the measures form part of a broader US campaign to pressure international institutions viewed as threatening American or allied interests.

Beyond freezing assets, the sanctions effectively bar access to banking services, restrict travel, and expose third parties to penalties for providing assistance.

Human rights advocates and legal scholars warned that such actions risked crippling the ICC’s ability to function and set a precedent for using economic force to target international courts and UN mechanisms.

The ICC has condemned the sanctions and said it would continue its work “to provide justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities.”

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