Swiss UN ambassador condemns US sanctions against Albanese

Lauber and the UN deplore US sanctions against Albanese Keystone-SDA

The President of the Human Rights Council, Swiss UN Ambassador Jürg Lauber, regrets United States sanctions on the rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese.

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The United Nations is asking Washington to review the decision.

The US announced on Wednesday that sanctions would be taken against Albanese. The special rapporteur, who does not speak on behalf of the UN but is mandated by the Human Rights Council, has led “illegitimate and shameful efforts” to push the International Criminal Court (ICC) into investigations against American and Israeli officials, companies and bosses, they said.

In particular, the US criticised the lawyer for recommending arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netyanyahu and one of his former defence ministers.

Speaking of genocide in the Gaza Strip, Albanese has also attracted American disapproval in recent months for her criticism of US President Donald Trump’s attitude.

More recently, she accused dozens of companies, including several American ones and Glencore, of being part of the Hebrew state’s “genocidal economy”. These accusations have been refuted.

On Thursday, Lauber said that the special rapporteurs were “indispensable instruments of the Council”. He asked UN member states to cooperate with them and not to “intimidate” or “retaliate” against them.

This demand is shared by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who wants the same effort to be made, “even in the event of fierce disagreement” with an independent expert.

He called on the US to “quickly reverse” its decision. The “attacks and threats” against mandates issued by the Human Rights Council and against institutions such as the ICC must come to an end, he said.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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