US sanctions UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for ‘efforts to prompt’ International Criminal Court action

​​​​​​​By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US imposed sanctions Wednesday on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, citing her "efforts to prompt" International Criminal Court (ICC) action against US and Israeli officials.

“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt (ICC) action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.

Accusing Albanese of waging a “campaign of political and economic warfare” against both countries, he said the actions “will no longer be tolerated.”

“We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense,” he added.

The sanctions followed a report by Albanese last week that identified​​​​​​​ corporations allegedly facilitating Israeli occupation on Palestinian lands, including Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Palantir that provide military hardware, surveillance technology and infrastructure that support the illegal occupation.