Things to know about the UN special rapporteur sanctioned by the US
A U.N. special rapporteur has been sanctioned by the United States over her work as an independent investigator scrutinizing human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, with Washington decrying what it called a “campaign of political and economic warfare” against the U.S. and Israel. Francesca Albanese is a high-profile member of a group of experts chosen by the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. They report to the body as a means of monitoring human rights records in various countries and the global observance of specific rights. Special rapporteurs don’t represent the U.N. and have no formal authority. Still, their reports can step up pressure on countries, while their findings inform prosecutors at the International Criminal Court and other venues working on transnational justice cases. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement announcing sanctions against Albanese on Wednesday that she “has spewed unabashed antisemitism, express...