Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, has been vocally critical of US ally Israel’s war in Gaza. The United States announced on Wednesday that it was placing sanctions on Albanese.
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 US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said in a statement.
Albanese stated that she stood “firmly and convincingly on the side of justice, as I have always done,” in a post on X late on Wednesday. However, she made no mention of the US penalties. In an Al Jazeera SMS message.
Albanese, an Italian scholar and lawyer, has accused the US ally of conducting a “genocidal campaign” in Gaza and urged governments before the UN Human Rights Council to impose a weapons embargo and cut off commercial and financial links with Israel.
Israel’s deadly military attack on Gaza has led to claims of war crimes at the ICC and genocide at the International Court of Justice. Israel disputes the charges, claiming that its campaign is self-defence in the wake of a fatal Hamas strike in October 2023.
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