Spain's leader Sanchez awards UN's Francesca Albanese Order of Civil Merit

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Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez awarded Francesca Albanese, the UN's Special Rapporteur on Palestine, with the Order of Civil Merit as a show of support against US sanctions imposed on her for her advocacy. Sanchez emphasized moral responsibility in the face of perceived injustices.

Spain's leader Sanchez awards UN's Francesca Albanese Order of Civil Merit Sondos Asem on Thu, 05/07/2026 - 12:15 Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez describes the UN's Palestine rapporteur as 'a voice that upholds the conscience of the world' Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese at the Spanish presidency on Thursday, 7 May 2026 (Photo by Spanish presidency) Off Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday awarded the Order of Civil Merit to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese, in an apparent show of solidarity with the expert sanctioned by the US for her work. “Public responsibility also entails the moral obligation not to look the other way,” Sanchez wrote in a statement. “It is an honour to award the Order of Civil Merit to a voice that upholds the conscience of the world: Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” The move comes a day after Sanchez formally requested the European Commission to activate the EU’s Blocking Statute to shield the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations from US sanctions.  "The EU cannot stand idly by in the face of this persecution," he said on Wednesday, a day before the award, calling on Brussels to protect the independence of both institutions and their "actions to end the genocide in Gaza". (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); "Sanctioning those who defend international justice puts the entire human rights system at risk."  Targeted by US sanctions Albanese is the first and only UN special rapporteur to be the target of US sanctions for her work, after the US Donald Trump administration imposed financial and visa sanctions on her last year for her work documenting human rights abuses in occupied Palestine, which includes engagement with the ICC and international justice institutions.  The ICC, based in The Hague, is the only permanent international court that prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Its officials, including nine judges, have been subjected to unprecedented measures by the US since Prosecutor Karim Khan sought arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes committed in Gaza since October 2023. Albanese urges ICC arrest warrants for Israeli ministers over torture of Palestinians Read More » Since February last year, the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on 11 ICC officials and Albanese in connection with the arrest warrants as well as the court's ongoing Afghanistan investigation. Albanese was sanctioned in July over her work investigating genocide in Gaza and her engagement with the ICC as part of her mandate. The sanctions effectively barred her from travelling to the US and froze her assets there. She previously told MEE that the sanctions have also cut her off from the global financial system, including by blocking her ability to carry out regular daily transactions. In February, her family sued the Trump administration over the sanctions. As a special rapporteur, Albanese has issued four reports since October 2023 labelling Israel's war on Gaza as a genocide and denouncing the global economic and political systems that have supported it.   Her latest report called on the ICC to pursue arrest warrants for three Israeli ministers she accuses of being responsible for “systematic torture” amounting to genocide. Spain's Sanchez is one of the EU's most outspoken critics of international law breaches by Israel and the US, including in the war on Gaza and Iran. He was the first EU leader to label Israel's war as a genocide. International law News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0