Rubio hits U.N. Human Rights Council rapporteur with sanctions
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced sanctions on United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
Rubio cited “her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” in the announcement of the sanctions.
The position of special rapporteur is appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council and is responsible for following and reporting on the human rights situation in Palestine.
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” Rubio said. “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.”
The sanctions are likely to prevent Albanese from traveling to the U.S. and would block any assets she has in the country, the BBC reported.
Neither Albanese nor the U.N. Human Rights Council responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. Among the 47 current members of the Human Rights Council are human rights-abusing communist China, Cuba, and Vietnam.
Following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, Albanese said the attack needed to be placed in the “context of decades of oppression imposed on the Palestinians.”
Albanese has repeatedly accused Israel of “genocide” against the Palestinian people and claimed “Israel’s repression of Palestinian people has been scaffolded by corporations, fully aware of and yet indifferent to, decades of human rights violations and international crimes.”
Albanese was also one of a number of “U.N. experts” to condemn the U.S. attack on Iran’s three key nuclear sites last month.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., who is Jewish, celebrated Rubio’s announcement on the social media platform X on Wednesday, calling Albanese “a full-throated supporter of Muslim terror,” adding that the special rapporteur “embodies the moral rot that is the [U.N.].”
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“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,” Rubio said in a press release Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, Albanese wrote on X that the “governments of Italy, France, and Greece must explain why they provided airspace and safe passage to ICC-wanted Benjamin Netanyahu, whom they are obligated to arrest.”
“Francesca Albanese is the tip of the spear for antisemitism at the U.N.,” the Republican majority on the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote on X in response to Rubio’s announcement. “Sanctioning her sends a clear message that if you target America or our allies—you will pay the price.”
The new sanctions against Albanese come just after Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. The two world leaders discussed how to secure freedom for the 50 hostages who still remain in Gaza and a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. No formal deal was announced immediately after the meetings.
Netanyahu also met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday. The two men, along with a handful of Defense Department and military personnel, discussed the recent military campaign against Iran’s nuclear program.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]