‘Not acceptable’: UN rights chief slams US sanctions on world body’s rapporteur

UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Wednesday called sanctions imposed on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese “not acceptable.”

“You can agree or disagree with someone, but you should never ever sanction them,” said Turk in response to a question from Anadolu at a news conference in New York.

“They were appointed by the Human Rights Council as independent experts, and the sanction is just not acceptable,” he said.

He said the sanctions on Albanese and the International Criminal Court (ICC) “are not in line with international law from our perspective.”

“Our call to member states is always to ensure that such sanctions are not only lifted, but that they also use their influence that they get lifted,” he added.

Turk said he will address the ICC Assembly of States Parties in The Hague next week.

“I will say what I have to say about the vital importance of the International Criminal Court for the human rights ecosystem, including for accountability purposes,” he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on Albanese in July 2025, citing her efforts to arrest American and Israeli nationals, including recommending the ICC arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

A US district judge temporarily blocked the sanctions in May, and Washington removed them following the court order. The US then reinstated them after a federal appeals court paused the lower-court ruling, and the appeals court in June allowed the sanctions to remain in effect while her legal challenge proceeds.

On Oct. 9, Washington imposed sanctions on the ICC, hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay was named winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

Asked about his message for Israel’s next government following Tuesday’s elections, Turk said: “Don’t continue the current course of warfare where you think you are above international law.”

“Israel has its obligations under international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and they need to respect them,” he said. He added that he hoped the next government would “change course massively.”