JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The Trump administration has been imposing sanctions on international judges and human rights experts involved in a case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The most recent target of sanctions is a U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories. Israel applauded the move. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not mince words when he announced that he was imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a special rapporteur for the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. He accused her of spewing unabashed antisemitism - in his words - and showing contempt for the U.S., Israel and the West. Rubio's spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, added this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TAMMY BRUCE: In recent weeks, she has also targeted U.S. companies in an unacceptable campaign of political and economic warfare.
KELEMEN: Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, has accused Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza, a charge that Israel denies. Earlier this month, she drew up a list of companies that she says are complicit.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
FRANCESCA ALBANESE: It's time for an arms embargo, and it's time for businesses to cut ties with Israel. The very fact of engaging in something that concerns and translates into economic gain and profits, it's problematic, lest the companies and their executives are ready to face responsibility and even criminal liability.
KELEMEN: Albanese has long faced accusations of antisemitism. She posted on X that she's been tormented for years by what she calls the most absurd falsehoods, including being a threat to the existence of the state of Israel. At the U.N. in New York, spokesman Stephane Dujarric has walked a fine line criticizing the sanctions against Albanese but not commenting on her reports for the Human Rights Council. Special rapporteurs are independent human rights experts, he explains, so he won't speak for them.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
STEPHANE DUJARRIC: There are a lot of member states who are not happy with one or different special rapporteurs at different times. That's their right. But our message is engage diplomatically with the U.N. human rights architecture and don't issue targeted sanctions.
KELEMEN: The sanctions on Albanese are part of President Trump's executive order targeting the International Criminal Court. The U.S. and Israel say the ICC does not have jurisdiction in a case against Israeli officials, and the U.S. has already imposed sanctions on several ICC judges. David Bosco, an Indiana University professor who writes about the ICC, says Trump is going beyond what he did in the first term to try to stop investigations into the U.S. or Israel by now targeting judges and Albanese.
DAVID BOSCO: So she doesn't have any function with the ICC, but the fact that she's been agitating for the ICC to be involved and to take action was enough for her to be kind of swept into this anti-ICC campaign.
KELEMEN: He says Albanese, an ICC prosecutor, and the four judges who face sanctions may have trouble traveling or using certain bank accounts or credit cards.
BOSCO: You know, it definitely impacts their daily life. I don't know that it's yet impacting the ability of the ICC to function.
KELEMEN: Bosco thinks it is in U.S. interest to have the ICC, which was set up to be a court of last resort when nations won't or can't prosecute serious international crimes. He thinks the court can limp along through the rest of the Trump administration unless the U.S. starts imposing sanctions on IT companies or others that help the ICC function.
Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
