US lifts sanctions on UN expert

The United States has stopped enforcing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on Palestinian rights, according to the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions page. The step reverses penalties the Trump administration imposed in July 2025 under its sanctions program tied to the International Criminal Court. The move came as another government cited international legal scrutiny of Israel in a separate dispute. South Korea said on May 21 that Israel had released two Korean nationals detained after joining Gaza-bound humanitarian aid ships, a day after President Lee Jae Myung publicly criticized the seizure and referred to the ICC warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (ofac.treasury.gov) Taken together, the two episodes show how the ICC case around Israel is now appearing in two different channels at once: U.S. sanctions policy and bilateral diplomacy. In both cases, the immediate facts are narrow — one sanctions designation is no longer being enforced, and two detainees were released — but the legal language around the court is now part of official government action. (koreatimes.co.kr) ### How did Francesca Albanese end up under U.S. sanctions? Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on July 9, 2025 that the United States was imposing sanctions on Albanese under Executive Order 14203, titled “Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court.” Rubio said Albanese had “directly engaged” with the ICC in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute U.S. or Israeli nationals without those countries’ consent. (ofac.treasury.gov) The sanctions drew immediate objections from U.N. human rights officials. The U.N. human rights office and other U.N. experts said at the time that Albanese was carrying out an official mandate from the Human Rights Council and called on Washington to reverse the decision. Treasury’s current ICC-related sanctions page now says Albanese’s designation “is not being implemented or enforced while this order remains in effect.” The page does not explain in the excerpt available why the policy changed, and Treasury’s recent-actions page lists an ICC-related notice dated May 15, 2026. (state.gov) ### What changed in Washington this week? (ohchr.org) The clearest public sign is administrative rather than rhetorical. Treasury’s sanctions page now states that the Albanese designation is not being carried out, replacing the practical effect of the earlier penalty even though the broader ICC-related sanctions framework remains in place. (ofac.treasury.gov) That matters because the original July 2025 action was framed by the State Department as part of a wider effort to deter cooperation with ICC cases involving U.S. and Israeli nationals. The present language stops short of announcing a broader rollback of that policy. ### What happened with the South Korean detainees? (ofac.treasury.gov) South Korea’s presidential office said on May 21 that Israel had released two Korean nationals captured while heading toward Gaza aboard humanitarian aid ships. The office said the release followed consular assistance and diplomatic measures by Seoul. (state.gov) President Lee Jae Myung said a day earlier that Israel had arrested South Korean nationals in international waters and called the action “way out of line,” according to Reuters. South Korean media also reported that Lee invoked the ICC warrant for Netanyahu as he criticized Israel’s conduct. Israeli officials, according to South Korean accounts of the exchange, said they hoped the incident would not affect relations with Seoul. (koreatimes.co.kr) The Korean presidential office said the detainees were deported immediately rather than being held in detention facilities. ### Why are these two developments being discussed together? The common element is the ICC case involving Israeli leaders. (usnews.com) Washington’s earlier sanctions on Albanese were explicitly tied to her engagement with ICC efforts concerning U.S. and Israeli nationals, while Lee’s criticism of Israel over the Korean detainees drew on the court’s warrant against Netanyahu. (khan.co.kr) The facts do not show coordination between the United States and South Korea. They do show that legal arguments once confined to The Hague are now appearing in government statements, sanctions pages and consular disputes involving third-country nationals. That is an inference from the timing and wording of the official actions. (state.gov) ### What should readers watch next? The next concrete marker is whether the U.S. Treasury or State Department issues a fuller public notice explaining the Albanese change beyond the current enforcement language on Treasury’s sanctions page. Treasury’s recent-actions page shows an ICC-related notice dated May 15, 2026. In Seoul, the next step is whether President Lee or the foreign ministry makes any formal move tied to his remarks about Netanyahu and the Korean detainees. (ofac.treasury.gov) For now, South Korea says the two nationals have been released, and Israel has indicated it does not want the episode to damage bilateral ties. (koreatimes.co.kr) (ofac.treasury.gov)