UNITED NATIONS: An independent UN investigator again took world nations to task Tuesday for not standing up to the US over sanctions it imposed on her — penalties that complicated her ability to deliver in person her latest assessment of Israeli human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories.
Calling the sanctions “unlawful and spiteful,” Francesca Albanese told the General Assembly via video from South Africa that it “should already have confronted this dangerous precedent.”
“These measures are an assault on the UN itself — on its independence, its integrity, its very soul,” she said before turning to her report on Gaza and the West Bank. Hours later, she told reporters that despite the unprecedented attacks against her as a UN investigator, powerful countries have not taken “concrete steps beyond declarations and condemnations” since the US decision this summer. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Albanese demurred when asked whether the United Nations and its officials, including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, had supported her during this time, saying she’d rather not comment.
An Italian human rights lawyer, Albanese is a “special rapporteur” — an outside expert who is tapped by the UN Human Rights Council to assess human rights in a particular place or subject area. The rapporteurs have no formal authority, but their views can inform world opinion and prosecutors at the International Criminal Court and other venues.
