US sanctions on Albanese shamefully undermine justice: Amnesty
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Amnesty slams US sanctions on UN expert Francesca Albanese, calling it a move to shield "Israel" and undermine international justice.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, condemned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement of sanctions against the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese.
“This is a shameless and transparent attack on the fundamental principles of international justice. Special Rapporteurs are not appointed to please governments or to be popular but to deliver their mandate. Francesca Albanese’s mandate is to advocate for human rights and international law, essential at a time when the very survival of Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip is at stake," Callamard said in a statement.
Agnes emphasized that following the recent sanctions on the ICC, "the measures announced today are a continuation of the Trump administration’s assault on international law and its efforts to protect the Israeli government from accountability at all costs."
Agnes Callamard criticized the Trump administration's policies, arguing that they aim to suppress advocates for Palestinian human rights.
She urged the US government to stop targeting the Special Rapporteur and weakening international legal frameworks, emphasizing the need to halt unconditional support for "Israel", which she said fosters impunity for its actions in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Albanese accuses tech companies of fueling genocide in Gaza
A UN investigator has claimed that more than 60 companies, including major arms producers and international technology corporations, are involved in supporting what they called "Israel's" expansion of settlements and actions they characterized as a "genocidal campaign" in Gaza.
The report was compiled by Francesca Albanese, who serves as the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories under occupation, drawing upon more than 200 submissions provided by governments, human rights groups, universities, and private sector entities to support her conclusions.
Released on July 7, the document calls on corporations to immediately terminate all business operations with "Israel" while demanding that corporate leaders face legal consequences for their purported breaches of international legal standards.
The report identifies major arms producers, including Lockheed Martin and Leonardo, as suppliers of weapons allegedly deployed in Gaza, while naming corporations like Caterpillar and Hyundai for providing heavy equipment said to facilitate property destruction across Palestinian territories.
Tech giants such as Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM, which are characterized as playing key roles in maintaining what the document describes as "Israel's surveillance infrastructure and the continuing devastation in Gaza."
Prominent economists, including Yanis Varoufakis, Thomas Piketty, and Nassim Nicholas Taleb, have released a strongly worded open letter supporting UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and backing her research into the financial structures sustaining what her report characterizes as an "economy of genocide" in Gaza.
Rubio announces sanctions on Albanese
On July 9, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed that sanctions would be imposed against Francesca Albanese, the UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, alleging that she had initiated what he described as an "illegitimate and shameful" effort to pressure the International Criminal Court (ICC) into investigating US and Israeli officials and entities.
In a post on X, Rubio asserted that Albanese's actions amounted to what he called "political and economic warfare" targeting both the United States and the Israeli occupation, while warning that such measures would face consequences moving forward.
“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 US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio's post reads. “We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense," he added.
