CNN
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The US is imposing sanctions against a senior UN official focused on the human rights of Palestinians, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday.
In a post on X, Rubio said he was imposing the sanctions against Francesca Albanese, who holds the title of UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, “for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt (International Criminal Court) action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.”
The announcement is the latest effort by the US to punish those looking into alleged crimes committed by Israel as the war in Gaza continues. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February authorizing punitive measures against the ICC because of its “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”
The Trump administration has since imposed sanctions on ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan and four other judges. Rubio said in a separate statement that the sanctions against Albanese are being applied under that executive order.
The rapporteur position is not appointed by the UN Secretary General. Rather, the role is for an “independent expert” appointed by the UN Human Rights Council “to follow and report on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The announcement of sanctions against Albanese was made while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington, DC. It was quickly applauded by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who called it “a clear message.”
“Time for the UN to pay attention!,” he wrote on X.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon also commended the move.
CNN has reached out to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for comment.
In the statement, Rubio said Albanese “has directly engaged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of those two countries.”
He said neither Israel nor the US is party to the treaty that established the ICC, “making this action a gross infringement on the sovereignty of both countries.”
“The United States has repeatedly condemned and objected to the biased and malicious activities of Albanese that have long made her unfit for service as a Special Rapporteur,” Rubio continued, accusing Albanese of antisemitism and expressing “support of terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West.”
“That bias has been apparent across the span of her career, including recommending that the ICC, without a legitimate basis, issue arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant,” he said.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court also issued arrest warrants for three top Hamas officials.
Last week, the US opposed the renewal of Albanese as special rapporteur and called on the UN secretary general to “directly condemn Ms. Albanese’s activities and call for her removal as Special Rapporteur.”
On Wednesday, Rubio said that Albanese had written “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.”
“We will not tolerate these campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty,” Rubio said.
In a report last week, Albanese accused a number of American companies of profiting “from the Israeli economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now genocide.”
CNN’s Tamar Michaelis contributed to this report.
