US imposes sanctions on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday (local time) imposed sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her “illegitimate and shameful” efforts to prompt the International Criminal Court’s action against US and Israeli officials, companies and executives.

Rubio stated that Albanese’s campaign of “political and economic warfare” against Israel and the US will no longer be tolerated. He expressed US’ support for its partners in their right to self-defence.

In a post on X, Rubio stated, “Today, I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt @IntlCrimCourt action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives”.

“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. The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies”, he added.

Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt @IntlCrimCourt action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.

Albanese’s campaign of political and economic…

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 9, 2025

In June, the Trump administration urged the UN to remove Francesca Albanese, alleging “virulent antisemitism and support for terrorism,” according to a letter obtained by The Washington Free Beacon, The Times of Israel reported. In the letter written to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on June 20, the Trump administration alleged that Albanese claims to be an “international lawyer”, however, she is not licensed to practice law.

Albanese, an Italian national, regularly accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza. She has faced criticism from both the Biden and Trump administrations over her statement that Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, must be put in a “context of decades of oppression imposed on the Palestinians.”

In the letter, acting US representative to the UN Dorothy Shea accused Francesca Albanese of carrying out “an unacceptable campaign of political and economic warfare against the American and worldwide economy,” The Times of Israel reported.

The Trump administration’s letter to the UN comes after Albanese’s report titled “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide,” for which she accuses major US and international firms of ostensible complicity. She wrote, “Israel’s settler-colonial occupation has transformed into an insidious, bureaucratic and militarised regime of destruction — a calculated economy of genocide”.

Pro-Israel groups like UN Watch and NGO Monitor have regularly accused Albanese of anti-Israel and even antisemitic bias. She has said that the “Jewish lobby” controls the US and compared Israelis to Nazis, rejected antisemitic actions for Hamas’ attack on Israel, blamed Israel for the attack, rejected Israel’s security concerns, criticised Israel’s killing of Hamas Political Bureau chief Yahya Sinwar, and denied Israel’s right to self defence, The Times of Israel reported.

In February last year, Albanese faced criticism after she said that the victims of Hamas’ October 7 attack “were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression”. At that time, then-US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in a post on X, had said that Albanese is “unfit for her role. The United Nations should not tolerate antisemitism from a UN-affiliated official hired to promote human rights”. (ANI)