GENEVA

The head of the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday criticized the US decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory.

In a statement, Jurg Lauber highlighted the importance of special rapporteurs in advancing the council's mandate and urged all UN member states to cooperate with them and avoid any form of intimidation or retaliation.

“I regret the decision of the United States Government to impose sanctions on Ms. Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,” Lauber said.

Lauber reiterated the independent nature of such UN experts, emphasizing their role in global human rights monitoring. “Ms. Albanese was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Special Rapporteurs are an essential instrument of the Council in fulfilling its mandate to promote and protect all human rights worldwide,” he stated.

He also urged states to respect the integrity of UN human rights mechanisms.

“I call on all UN Member States to fully cooperate with the Special Rapporteurs and mandate holders of the Council and to refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal against them,” he added.

The US imposed sanctions Wednesday on 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," US 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."

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, which she said provide military hardware, surveillance technology, and infrastructure that support the illegal occupation.

The US has long been criticized for supporting Israel’s ongoing occupation and genocide of Palestinians, which since October 2023 has killed over 57,000 people, most of them women and children.