US sanctions on Albanese shows rules-based international order ‘no longer exists’
We’ve spoken to human rights lawyer Arsalan Iftikhar about the Trump administration’s sanctions on UN expert Francesca Albanese over her documentation of Israel’s abuses against Palestinians.
Iftikhar said the sanctions show that the rules-based international order “no longer exists”. “This is another shameless and transparent attack by the Trump administration on the fundamental principles of international justice,” he said.
“It’s a double standard that if you are a strongman that is a friend of President Trump’s, you’ll be welcomed with open arms, even though you have two indictments from the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice,” he said, in a reference to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
“But if you’re a UN human rights lawyer that is trying to investigate, then you’re going to have your visa revoked.”
UN efforts to seek justice for Gaza could be affected by US sanctions on Albanese
The Trump administration has accused UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, of being anti-Semitic, fomenting terrorism, and trying to punish the US and Israel for their leadership in the Middle East.
Now, the US State Department has issued sanctions against Albanese personally, accusing her of essentially leading a conspiracy to try to put Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on trial in The Hague.
The Trump administration says Albanese’s work is disruptive and illegal, because neither Israel nor the US is party to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court.
So, what do the sanctions mean? They mean Albanese will very likely be denied visas to the US if she tries to go to the United Nations headquarters in New York for her work. She will likely have any of her assets in the US impounded.
And perhaps most importantly, she may find that those Americans who want to work with her as she tries to pursue justice for the Palestinian people could find themselves punished by the US legal system.
