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Indian Express
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Who is Francesca Albanese, the UN expert sanctioned by the US?
The United States has imposed sanctions on an independent expert who has been tasked by the United Nations to investigate human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories. UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese has been an outspoken critic of what she describes as the Israeli 'genocide' against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. She has also strongly supported the arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court (ICC). US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions for what he said were 'illegitimate and shameful efforts' by the special rapporteur to engage with the ICC to 'prompt action' against America and Israel. 'Albanese's campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,' Rubio posted on X on Wednesday (July 9). Albanese is an international lawyer who has been a UN special rapporteur on human rights in occupied Palestinian territories since May 2022. She is an affiliate scholar at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, and a specialist in human rights and the Middle East. Albanese is co-author of Palestinian Refugees in International Law (2020), and has written extensively on Palestine and the mandate and work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Albanese has strongly condemned Israel's actions in Gaza since the beginning of its campaign against Hamas in October 2023, and of the Trump administration's repeated attempts to silence voices that are critical of Israel. On July 3, while addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), she accused Israel of 'one of the cruellest genocides in modern history', and described the situation in Gaza as 'apocalyptic'. Israel's actions were part of a decades-long 'settler colonial project of erasure' that had been escalated in recent months through the use of military force, starvation, and mass displacement, Albanese said. The special rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the UNHRC to report on situations of human rights violations in occupied Palestinian territories. The mandate of the special rapporteur derives from the 1993 resolution of the Committee on Human Rights. The rapporteur works with governments and civil society, and reports her assessment of the human rights situation publicly. She makes regular site visits and reports annually to the UNHRC, which provides her with logistical assistance. The ICC is an international tribunal headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. The ICC was established by the Rome Statute, an international treaty that was adopted on July 17, 1998, and entered into force on July 1, 2002. The ICC aims to 'end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community' — genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The ICC, which has a cooperative and complementary relationship with the UN, is the only international court with the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals. It has charged Netanyahu and Israel's former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant with crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza for allegedly depriving Palestinians in the enclave of 'objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine'. Rubio said that the US and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC, and Albanese's actions were therefore 'a gross infringement on the sovereignty of both countries'. He alleged that Albanese had 'spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West'. Rubio described Albanese's support for the ICC's arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant as 'biased', and accused her of sending 'threatening letters' to various entities, including American companies across different sectors. The sanctions have been imposed under President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14203, 'Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court,' Section 1(a)(ii)(A), signed on February 6, 2025. The order imposed sanctions against individuals associated with the ICC, which it said had 'engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and its close ally Israel'. This section of the order allows the US to sanction individuals who have 'directly engaged in any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person without consent of that person's country of nationality'. Last month, the Trump administration sanctioned four ICC judges for 'illegitimate and baseless actions' against the US and its allies. The writer is a summer intern at The Indian Express.
Mint
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Who is Francesca Albanese? US sanctions UN Special Rapporteur and critic of Israel's Gaza offensive
The Donald Trump administration on Wednesday announced sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur investigating human rights violations in the Palestinian territories. This move marks the latest U.S. attempt to penalise critics of Israel's 21-month-long conflict in Gaza. The State Department imposed the sanctions after previously failing to persuade the UN to remove Albanese from her position. Francesca Albanese is an international lawyer with a focus on human rights and Middle Eastern affairs. Since May 2022, she has held the role of United Nations Special Rapporteur, responsible for monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, according to UNHCR. As Special Rapporteur, she has released multiple legal analyses and key reports on various issues, including the violation of the right to self-determination in the occupied Palestinian territories (2022), the widespread and systematic imprisonment of Palestinians (2023), the erosion of childhood rights, referred to as 'unchilding,' in the oPt (2023), and allegations of genocide. She stressed that genuine impartiality is not about ignorance or indifference. Rather, it requires an objective examination of the facts grounded in international law, while also acknowledging and addressing—rather than overlooking—power imbalances and historical injustices, UNHCR noted. Albanese is the author of notable works, including Palestinian Refugees in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2020), and more recently, J'Accuse (Fuoriscena, 2024). Meanwhile, in an interview with The World with Yalda Hakim, Albanese stated that 'many' young fighters in Gaza are deeply affected by their experiences, saying they are 'haunted by what they have seen, what they have done.' She noted the psychological toll the conflict is taking, adding, 'It doesn't make sense. This is not a war, this is an assault against civilians, and this is producing a fracture in many of them,' according to a report by NewsSky. In a post on X, Albanese wrote, 'Since October 7, torture against Palestinian prisoners has become widespread and systematic. Both male and female detainees have been subjected to sexual violence, including rape. The documented gang rape at #SdeTeiman is not an isolated case—it's part of a pattern. This is not just cruelty: inflicting severe physical or mental harm on members of a group 'as such' is a constitutive element of genocide.' Francesca Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, has openly accused Israel of committing "genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza, a claim strongly rejected by both Israel and the United States, which remains a key military backer of Israel. Until now, the US had not directly confronted Albanese, partly because it had not participated in either of the two Human Rights Council sessions held this year, including the most recent one that concluded on Tuesday. This absence stems from the Trump administration's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the council earlier this year. Albanese's July 1 report focuses on Western defence companies that have provided weapons used by Israel's military, as well as manufacturers of earth-moving equipment that have bulldozed Palestinian homes and property, according to a report by Associated Press. It cites activities by companies in the shipping, real estate, technology, banking and finance and online travel industries, as well as academia. 'While life in Gaza is being obliterated and the West Bank is under escalating assault, this report shows why Israel's genocide continues: because it is lucrative for many,' her report said. She has also been a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, for allegations of war crimes. She most recently issued a report naming several large US companies as among those aiding what she described as Israel's occupation and war on Gaza. The war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people captive. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead but does not specify how many were fighters or civilians, AP reported. Nearly 21 months into the conflict that displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people, it is nearly impossible for the critically wounded to get the care they need, doctors and aid workers say. (With inputs from agencies)
