Human Rights watchdog endorses Rubio's sanctions of UN official

A Human Rights watchdog on Wednesday celebrated the State Department's sanctions on United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, claiming it should be "congratulated" for finally taking action. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sanctioned Albanese earlier Wednesday over her recommendations to the International Criminal Court that it issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Human Rights Voices President Anne Bayefsky told Fox News that the UN official "poses a direct threat to the well-being and security of U.S. citizens" because of her antisemitic rhetoric and activities. 

"The State Department is to be congratulated for finally taking action against Albanese, her virulent and violent antisemitism and her constant attacks on the United States, American businesses and the very existence of the State of Israel," Bayefsky said in a statement. 

"Albanese poses a direct threat to the well-being and security of U.S. citizens - not to mention her utter disregard for the theoretical purposes and principles of the United Nations - and as such, the United States is not obligated to admit her," she continued. "President [Donald] Trump's Executive Order requiring action on international actors bent on throwing American and Israeli soldiers into International Criminal Court dungeons in the Hague needs even more enforcement."

Bayefsky said former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay should also be sanctioned by the State Department, along with her UN Commission of Inquiry. 

The State Department highlighted that neither the U.S. nor Israel are parties to the Rome Statute that established the ICC and asserted that Albanese's efforts to secure ICC warrants were violations of U.S. and Israeli sovereignty.

UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer also celebrated the move, stating the sanctions were a "bold and courageous" move by the secretary that was unprecedented in UN history.

"No UN official — in this case, a purported official, as her reappointment was illegal — has ever been sanctioned before in history," he told Fox News. "Then again, no UN official has ever been condemned for Holocaust distortion and antisemitism by France, Germany, Canada, and both Democratic and Republican US administrations."

"She will never again spread her poison on American campuses or enter the country. Justice is served. Good triumphs over evil," he added.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.