US Secretary of State Marco Rubio today (Wednesday) announced the imposition of sanctions on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese in response to her efforts to charge US and Israeli officials at the International Criminal Court.
Rubio stated: "Today, I am imposing sanctions on Francesca Paola Albanese, the United Nations Human Rights Council 'Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967,' pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order 14203, 'Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court.' 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. Neither the United States nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute, 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. Albanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for 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.
"She has recently escalated this effort by writing 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.
"The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare, to check and prevent illegitimate ICC overreach and abuse of power, and to protect our sovereignty and that of our allies," the Secretary of State said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar welcomed the announcement and stated that it was "a clear message. Time for the UN to pay attention!"
Albanese's anti-Israel bias was first exposed in 2022, in the form of antisemitic posts she made on social media, in which she claimed that the “Jewish lobby” controls the US.
In December 2023, Albanese called a demand that Hamas release the 251 hostages it kidnapped on October 7, including small children and 9-month-old Kfir Bibas, "unacceptable." She has never called for the release of the hostages, 50 of whom continue to be held in Gaza. She has, however, called for the release of a Gaza hospital director who was arrested on suspicion of being a Hamas leader.
Shortly after the October 7th massacre, Albanese published a book titled 'J'Accuse,' co-opting the title of a famous essay calling out the antisemitism of the infamous Dreyfus trial for a work in which she attempted to shift the blame for the massacre from the Hamas perpetrators to Israel.
Albanese has also denied that Israel has the right to self-defense against Hamas even after October 7.