US Sanctions UN Expert For Pushing ICC Case Against Israel

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the United States will be imposing sanctions on the United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, accusing her of anti-Semitism, and supporting terrorism.

“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio wrote in a statement on July 9 posted to the social media platform X.

The Epoch Times reached out to a spokesperson for Albanese for comment.

An Italian attorney and academic, Albanese has served in her role at the UN since May 2022. She has advocated for the UN 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 Gaza while at war with Hamas.

The International Criminal Court has alleged 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 Gaza. 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.

In an early July report, Albanese accused more than 60 companies, including weapons manufacturers and technology businesses, of aiding Israeli settlements and military efforts in Gaza and suggested that Israel is benefiting from the support.

“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 her office.”

In a longer statement posted to the State Department’s website, Rubio accused Albanese of anti-Semitism, supporting terrorism, and having “open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West.”

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 [International Criminal Court] pursue investigations and prosecutions of these companies and their executives,” Rubio said.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnes Callamard, a former UN 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 wrote in a statement.

As a special rapporteur, Albanese is required by the UN Human Rights Council to report on specific topics and crises. The views of special rapporteurs are not reflective of the UN as a whole.