United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. The sanctions come after Albanese made statements and accusations against several Western nations regarding their dealings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom she described as a “war criminal” wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a stance biased toward the “criminal Zionist entity,” as described by the original source, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (note: the original text incorrectly named him Marco Rubio, while the current US Secretary of State is Antony Blinken. This translation retains the name from the source text) stated in an “X” post, “Today, I am sanctioning UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to incite the International Criminal Court to act against American and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.” Rubio added, “No more tolerance for Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare on the United States and Israel.”
This escalation follows Albanese’s criticism, hours earlier, of France, Italy, and Greece for allowing the Israeli Prime Minister to use their airspace. This comes despite an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
In a post on her “X” account, Albanese questioned the reasons for “providing a safe passage” for Netanyahu. She argued that these three countries, as parties to the Rome Statute, should adhere to their legal commitments to the international court.
“The governments of France, Italy, and Greece must provide official explanations for providing safe air passage to a person wanted by international justice,” she stated, noting that such actions “weaken the international legal system and endanger everyone.”
With American and European support, the Israeli “enemy army” has continued to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. This has resulted in the deaths of 57,680 Palestinian civilians, mostly children and women, and the injury of 137,409 others as of today. This toll is not final, as thousands of victims remain under the rubble and in the streets, unreachable by ambulance and rescue teams.
