The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for Palestine, marking a historic first against a UN expert.
The sanctions follow Albanese's scathing report on 30 June in which she named over 60 companies, including major US technology firms like Google, Amazon and Microsoft, which she said were involved in "the transformation of Israel's economy of occupation to an economy of genocide".
The report called for the International Criminal Court and national judicial systems to pursue investigations and prosecutions of corporate executives and companies. It also called on United Nations member states to pursue sanctions and asset freezes.
“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt @IntlCrimCourt action against US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on X on Wednesday.
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