(10 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sarajevo, Bosnia – 10 July 2025
++NIGHT TIME++
1. UN special rapporteur for West Bank and Gaza Francesca Albanese speaking at Sarajevo airport
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for West Bank and Gaza:
“It was shocking, but the way I came to know about that is interesting, because I was in public lecture, I was in a conference, and I understood there was some tension, something has happened. So my first thought was safety of my family and my friends. So when they told me at the end of it ‘oh, they imposed sanctions on you.’… (exhales in relief) it’s just sanctions."
++WHITE FLASH++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for West Bank and Gaza:
"When the powerful silence those who defend, those who have no power any more, other than standing and hoping not to die, not to see their children slaughtered, this is not a sign of power, it’s a sign of guilt. So, that’s OK, it shows how weak and declining the empire is. I will stand tall with the millions who are standing tall today to see the end of genocide in Gaza. We must see the end soon.”
++WHITE FLASH++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for West Bank and Gaza:
“We need to reverse the tide. And in order for it to happen, we need to stand united. They can not silence us all. They can not kill us all. They can not fire us all. The only way to win over is to throw our fear.“
++WHITE FLASH++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for West Bank and Gaza:
“This is not normal, there is so much of that country (US) that must be liberated. So instead of saying ‘Free, Free Palestine’ we should say ‘Free, Free United States of America’ and ‘Free, Free Europe.’ Seriously."
6. Albanese being interviewed
STORYLINE:
The United Nations special rapporteur for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on Thursday dismissed the sanctions placed on her by the United States, saying the action by the Trump administration was "not a sign of power, it’s a sign of guilt".
Francesca Albanese was speaking in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, a day after the U.S. State Department issued sanctions against the investigator, the latest effort by Washington to punish critics of Israel’s 21-month war in Gaza.
The move against the independent investigator tasked by the United Nations Human Rights Council with probing human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories followed after a recent U.S. pressure campaign to force the international body to remove her from her post.
Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, has been vocal about what she describes as the “genocide” by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza, an accusation which both Israel and the U.S. have strongly denied.
Special rapporteurs like Albanese don’t represent the U.N. and have no formal authority, but their findings can inform prosecutors working on transnational justice such as those at the International Criminal Court.
Albanese, who has held her special rapporteur post since May 2022, last week named several large U.S. companies among those aiding Israel as it fights a war with Hamas in Gaza, saying her report showed "why Israel’s genocide continues: because it is lucrative for many.”
Israel has long had a rocky relationship with the Human Rights Council, Albanese and previous rapporteurs, accusing them of bias.
It has refused to cooperate with a special “Commission of Inquiry” established following a 2021 conflict with Hamas.
AP video by Eldar Emric
Production by Amer Cohadzic
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