New York/Washington, 11 July 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The United Nations on Thursday rejected as "unacceptable" sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on an independent UN rapporteur over her criticism of Israel and called for them to be reversed.

The measures against Francesca Albanese, a UN-appointed independent expert on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, represent "a dangerous precedent," Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York, told reporters.

While member states have the right to disagree with reports by independent experts, such disagreements should be addressed within the UN framework, he said.

“The use of unilateral sanctions against Special Rapporteurs or any other UN expert or official is unacceptable,” he told journalists on Thursday at his regular news briefing.

He emphasized that Italian jurist Albanese was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and that Secretary-General Guterres has no authority over her work.

Dujarric has called for a distinction between legitimate political criticism of the Israeli government and anti-Semitism

US accuses Albanese of anti-Semitism

On Wednesday, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Albanese, the independent UN rapporteur for the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

The State Department accused her of bias and anti-Semitism, claiming Albanese had contacted the International Criminal Court to encourage investigations or arrests of US or Israeli nationals without informing the two countries.

That, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, made her "unfit" for service.

"Albanese has spewed unabashed anti-Semitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West," the statement said.

Rubio said Albanese had written "threatening letters" to entities worldwide, including several US companies, "making extreme and unfounded accusations" and recommending the ICC pursue prosecutions of the companies and their executives.

"We will not tolerate these campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty."
Albanese, an Italian legal and human rights academic, was appointed UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian Territories in 2022.

Earlier this month Albanese accused Israel of using companies to pursue a "settler-colonial" displacement project aimed at apartheid and genocide.

She has faced criticism for her views, with critics accusing her of anti-Semitism over her denunciations of Israeli actions.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts. The UN Human Rights Council appoints them to submit reports on specific topics or countries.

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