(Credit: UN Photo by Mark Garten) Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, briefs reporters at UN Headquarters October 30, 2024
By Gary Raynaldo – DIPLOMATIC TIMES
The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a United Nations human rights official who has been highly critical of Israel’s military action in Gaza. The sanctions, targeting U.N. Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, come a week after she issued a scathing report on the conflict in Gaza alleging war crimes and genocide committed by Israel. Albanese called on the International Criminal Court to investigate U.S. and Israeli officials. She also urged countries to suspend trade and investment relations with Israel.
“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” U.S. Secretary of State Marc Rubio wrote on social media platform X. “Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.”
Her report names 48 global corporations including Microsoft, Alphabet Inc. – Google’s parent company – and Amazon, that are allegedly complicit in Israel’s “genocide”. The report also states that “too many corporate entities have profited from Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now, genocide. The complicity exposed by this report is just the tip of the iceberg.” The report also characterized Israel’s expansion on Palestinian land as “colonial racial capitalism”.
UN Calls For Reversal of US Sanctions
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk called for a “prompt” reversal of the sanctions on Albanese in a written statement Thursday. Türk added that “attacks and threats against Special Procedures mandate holders, as well as key institutions like the International Criminal Court, must stop.” Albanese, an Italian legal scholar, was appointed Special Rapporteur in 2022. She has been vocal about Israel’s actions in Gaza since the conflict began in October 2023 and has called for sanctions and an arms embargo against Israel. The U.S. tried unsuccessfully to have her removed from her UN human rights post. Last year, Israeli’s government banned Albanese from entering the country. Special rapporteurs are unpaid independent experts who monitor human rights issues.
