Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that the United States will be imposing sanctions on the U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, accusing her of anti-Semitism and support for terrorism.
In response, the U.N. Human Rights Council urged the United States to promptly reverse the sanctions against Albanese.
“U.N. Special Rapporteurs, along with other parts of the human rights ecosystem, address—by their nature—sensitive and often divisive issues, that are of international concern,” the council wrote in an email statement to The Epoch Times.
“Even in face of fierce disagreement, U.N. Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures.
“Attacks and threats against Special Procedures mandate holders, as well as key institutions like the International Criminal Court [ICC], must stop. The solution is not less, but more, debate and dialogue on the very real human rights concerns they address.”
An Italian attorney and academic, Albanese has served in her role at the United Nations since May 2022. She has advocated for the U.N. Human Rights Council to impose an arms embargo and end trade and financial ties with Israel. Albanese accused Israel of overseeing a “genocidal campaign” in the Gaza Strip while at war with the Hamas terrorist group.
The ICC has alleged that Israel is guilty of war crimes, and the International Court of Justice has made allegations of genocide over the nation’s military efforts against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel has denied the accusations and maintains that its actions are self-defense after Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on southern Israel.
“The report reveals how the forever-occupation has become the ideal testing ground for arms manufacturers and big tech—providing boundless supply and demand, little oversight and zero accountability—while investors and private and public institutions profit freely,” she wrote.
Israel’s mission in Geneva called the report “legally groundless, defamatory, and a flagrant abuse of [Albanese’s] office.”
He also described Albanese’s report as a campaign of “political and economic warfare.”
“She has recently escalated this effort by writing threatening letters to dozens of entities worldwide, including major American companies across finance, technology, defense, energy, and hospitality, making extreme and unfounded accusations and recommending the ICC pursue investigations and prosecutions of these companies and their executives,” Rubio said.
Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard, a former U.N. special rapporteur, also denounced the sanctions.
“Governments around the world and all actors who believe in the rule-based order and international law must do everything in their power to mitigate and block the effect of the sanctions against Francesca Albanese and more generally to protect the work and independence of Special Rapporteurs,” Callamard said in a statement.
As a special rapporteur, Albanese is required by the U.N. Human Rights Council to report on specific topics and crises. The views of special rapporteurs are not reflective of the U.N. as a whole.
