As the world marks Nelson Mandela International Day, we are reminded not only of Mandela’s legacy of resistance against apartheid in South Africa, but also of his solidarity with all peoples facing oppression, including Palestinians. Today, as credible international voices increasingly have already been identifying Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory as a form of apartheid for decades, the relevance of Mandela’s words echoes with renewed urgency. In this context, the sustained political attacks and delegitimization campaigns targeting Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, appear not only as a personal assault, but as part of a broader attempt to silence those who, in Mandela’s spirit, dare to speak truth to power and expose structural injustice. Mandela himself made clear that « our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians. »
Just this month, the United States imposed unilateral sanctions on UNSR Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.This move represents a dangerous escalation a political attack not only on an independent human rights expert, but on the very integrity of the UN system and the universality of human rights.
Sanctioning a UN Special Rapporteur for carrying out her mandate sets a dangerous precedent, one that has been firmly condemned by UN leadership. The move has been described as “unacceptable,” with warnings that it undermines the very foundations of multilateral cooperation. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called for the immediate reversal of these sanctions.
The U.S. justifies these sanctions with accusations that UNSR Albanese collaborated with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in efforts to hold nationals of the U.S. and Israel accountable. Nevertheless this does not apply in this case since neither the U.S. nor Israel are parties to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC, so their refusal to participate in international justice mechanisms cannot be used to undermine the legitimacy of independent human rights work.
Sanctioning a UN expert who documents grave violations, up to and including apartheid, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, sends an scary message: there will be consequences for speaking uncomfortable truths. This is not just an attack on UNSR Francesca Albanese, but an attack on the entire human rights system, and on every human rights defender who dares to challenge impunity.
But the evidence UNSR Albanese brings forward cannot be erased through sanctions. The legal reality of apartheid in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory is well documented and increasingly acknowledged by international legal experts and UN mechanisms. Israel fragments Palestinian communities, dispossesses land, enforces segregation and dual legal systems, and systematically denies civil, political, and economic rights. We approach the one-year anniversary of the landmark 19 July 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice, which found that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful. The Court concluded that Israel’s policies violate international prohibitions against racial segregation and undermine the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. Building on ICJ, on 18 September 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, supported by 124 countries, demanding Israel’s full withdrawal within a year, the imposition of an arms embargo where violations are likely, and a ban on imports from Israeli settlements.
In Gaza, over two million Palestinians have lived under siege for years, in what is widely described as an “open-air prison.” Since October 2023, the situation has deteriorated into a full-blown crisis, with unprecedented levels of destruction, civilian suffering, and legal collapse, shifting the conversation from apartheid to ethnic cleansing. In the West Bank, Palestinians face a relentless wave of evictions, home demolitions, land confiscations, and settler violence, which continues to escalate with impunity. Meanwhile, inside Israel’s recognized borders, Palestinian citizens are subject to more than 65 discriminatory laws.
The sanctions imposed on UNSR Francesca Albanese represent not only a direct attack on the independence of UN Special Procedures, but also a dangerous precedent for silencing those who expose grave human rights violations. ProtectDefenders.eu Consortium members further urge all states to resist and condemn such illegitimate measures and to reinforce, rather than undermine, the international human rights architecture that defenders and experts like UNSR Albanese uphold with courage and integrity.
