RAMALLAH, West Bank / PNN/
The Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) and the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) condemned in the strongest terms the United States’ decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The groups said the U.S. sanctions represent a “dangerous precedent” and “direct interference” in the work of the United Nations, calling the move a blatant violation of international law, including the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
Albanese, an independent UN expert, has been targeted following a series of reports in which she accused Israel of committing genocide and systematic human rights violations against Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
In a joint statement, PNGO and PHROC said that the U.S. action constitutes an assault on the independence of the UN human rights system and violates UN General Assembly resolution 60/251, which established the Human Rights Council and guarantees the autonomy of its special procedures, including special rapporteurs.
“The targeting of Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese is not arbitrary; it is a direct consequence of her professional integrity and commitment to international human rights standards,” the groups said. “Her reporting has consistently documented grave crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces, including extrajudicial killings, ethnic cleansing, the imposition of an apartheid regime, and the ongoing siege of Gaza.”
Human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as UN bodies like the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, have corroborated many of Albanese’s findings, the groups noted.
The sanctions, they added, mark an escalation in Washington’s efforts to shield Israel from accountability, particularly amid the ongoing war in Gaza where Israeli military operations have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced millions. “Instead of confronting these atrocities, the United States has chosen to punish the messenger, deepening its complicity in these crimes,” the statement read.
The Palestinian organisations also linked the U.S. sanctions on Albanese to previous American threats against the International Criminal Court, including measures targeting its judges and prosecutors.
The statement called on the international community, including the UN Secretary-General and the Human Rights Council, to publicly condemn the U.S. decision and to safeguard the independence of UN special rapporteurs. They also urged immediate protection for Albanese to ensure she can carry out her mandate without political pressure or reprisals.
“Palestinian civil society stands in full solidarity with Francesca Albanese,” the groups said, adding that targeting her is equivalent to targeting the truth and the victims of Israeli violations.
The organisations reiterated their demand for an immediate reversal of the sanctions and called on human rights defenders globally to act against what they described as a “dangerous path” that threatens the credibility of the international human rights system.
