Human rights groups in the US, as well as various international institutions and agencies, widely condemned the US imposition of sanctions against Francesca Albanese, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. They called the sanctions “an unprecedented attack on the UN human rights system and international law.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions on July 9. These measures include freezing Albanese’s assets in the US, prohibiting Americans and American companies from any financial dealings with her, and barring her from entering the US. She is the first UN Special Rapporteur to be subjected to such measures. These actions directly violate the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations (1946), which guarantees legal protection to UN officials and experts while carrying out their official duties.
Human rights groups called on the US to immediately lift the sanctions. They said these actions are part of the US’s ongoing efforts to weaken international mechanisms for achieving justice. The Trump government’s attack on Albanese is US retaliation for her call to prosecute Israeli officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and for her continuing exposure of Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights in Gaza.
The groups added that the sanctions disregard the work of hundreds of human rights defenders around the world. They also called on other governments to repudiate and weaken the sanctions’ impact and to protect and uphold the full independence of UN Rapporteurs.
Groups that condemned the sanctions include CIVICUS, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Front Line Defenders, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
