On Wednesday, the United States imposed sanctions on the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, who has documented the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in several reports and called for the prosecution of those involved. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on Twitter, "Today, I am imposing sanctions on UN Special Rapporteur for human rights, Francesca Albanese, for her illegal and shameful efforts to urge the International Criminal Court to take action against American and Israeli officials, companies, and executives." Rubio added, "There will be no more tolerance for Albanese's campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel." We stand in solidarity with and support Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur (ILCP). Francesca has always carried out her professional work as required and as stipulated by international law and jurisprudence. Issuing such hasty and ill-considered decisions is also unjust and undermines the proper presentation of professional work and the credibility necessary for the achievement of international legal justice. As we have stated previously, we categorically reject the tactics used to silence, discredit, and delegitimize Ms. Albanese's work.
These attacks are not merely personal; they are political assaults on the very institutions of international law and accountability that were established in the wake of the darkest chapters in human history.
We believe that Ms. Albanese's work does not harm any party, but rather supports the implementation of international law, ensuring the proper application of human rights and international justice, bringing about peace, preventing the bloodshed of innocent and defenseless people, and raising awareness.
Ms. Albanese adheres to the highest standards of international law in documenting gross human rights violations, apartheid practices, and structural violence against the Palestinian people. Therefore, she has not been met with a justified legal response, but rather with a coordinated smear campaign—led, in part, by entities linked to the Trump administration.
Albanese is one of dozens of independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations to prepare reports on specific topics and crises. The views of the special rapporteurs do not reflect those of the international organization.
She recently published a report calling on states in the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo and sever trade and financial ties with Israel, accusing the US ally of waging a "campaign of genocide" in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli mission in Geneva said the report was "legally baseless, smear-oriented, and a blatant abuse of her position."
The UN Human Rights Office confirmed yesterday that Albanese was the first special rapporteur to be sanctioned and called for the decision to be rescinded. The European Union said it "deeply regretted" the US decision. Human rights advocates rallied to her defense.
Israel faces genocide charges at the International Court of Justice and war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court over its military offensive in Gaza.
Israel vehemently denies the allegations, saying its campaign amounts to self-defense after the deadly Hamas-led attack that triggered the October 2023 war.
In July, Francesca Albanese submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council addressing "corporate mechanisms that support Israel's colonial project of displacing and displacing Palestinians."
Albanese's publications and works include:
Albanese has published numerous articles on the legal status of Israel and Palestine. Her latest book, "Palestinian Refugees in International Law" (Oxford University Press, 2020), offers a comprehensive legal analysis of the situation of Palestinian refugees, from the first day of the occupation to the modern era.
As a Special Rapporteur, Albanese has issued several reports documenting the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023.
In her most recent report, issued this month, the UN Special Rapporteur accused more than 60 international companies, including well-known arms and technology companies, of supporting Israeli military operations in Gaza and settlements in the West Bank.
Her report stated that the companies in question—including Lockheed Martin, Leonardo, Caterpillar, and Hyundai, along with tech giants such as Google (Alphabet), Amazon, and Microsoft—are involved in supplying Israel with weapons and equipment or facilitating surveillance tools, contributing to the destruction of Gaza and human rights violations there.
In an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Ascari stated that "the terrorist government of the State of Israel is, on the one hand, funding a digital campaign aimed at discrediting UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, and on the other hand, the United States is targeting her with sanctions." In an exclusive interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Ascari noted that "all these absurd actions emerged just days after the publication of the Albanese report, in which she denounced Western companies that profit from genocide and are complicit in Israel's criminal and illegal occupation of Palestinian territories." She added, "This morning, I submitted a parliamentary request to Prime Minister Meloni and Foreign Minister Tajani to provide their testimony regarding what was mentioned in the Albanese report, and to condemn any form of political interference with the UN rapporteurs." The Italian parliamentarian expressed her full solidarity "with Francesca Albanese, who was forced to defend herself against governments that describe themselves as democratic, while using mafia-like and terrorist methods to intimidate and silence her.
As we have previously stated, we reject the methods used to silence Ms. Albanese's work, to discredit her, and to delegitimize it.
Putting sanctions on individuals for carrying out their work to the fullest and for spreading the truth is a violation of the law."