Spanish PM Awards Order to UN Rapporteur on Palestine
Theo middleeasteye
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez awarded the Order of Civil Merit to Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine sanctioned by the US. Sanchez called her a voice for the world's conscience and urged the EU to protect international justice institutions from US sanctions.
On 24 July, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez awarded the Order of Civil Merit to Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine. The move is seen as a show of solidarity with the expert who was sanctioned by the United States for her work related to Palestine.
"Public responsibility also includes a moral duty not to look the other way," Sanchez wrote in a statement. He stressed that it was an honour to present the medal to "a voice protecting the world's conscience."
The decision came a day after Sanchez formally asked the European Commission to activate the EU's Blocking Statute to protect the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations from US sanctions. "The EU cannot stand by and watch this repression," he said on 23 July, urging Brussels to defend the independence of both institutions and "actions aimed at ending the genocide in Gaza." He warned that sanctioning those who defend international justice threatens the entire human rights system.
Albanese is the first and only UN special rapporteur to be sanctioned by the US for her work. The Trump administration imposed financial and visa sanctions in July 2025 over her documentation of human rights violations in Palestine, including cooperation with the ICC. The sanctions cut off her access to the global financial system. In February, her family sued the Trump administration.
The ICC, based in The Hague, is the only permanent international court that prosecutes war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Since prosecutor Karim Khan sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, ICC officials, including nine judges, have been hit with unprecedented US sanctions.
As special rapporteur, Albanese has published four reports since October 2023, calling Israel's war on Gaza a genocide and condemning the global economic and political systems that support it. Her latest report urged the ICC to prosecute three Israeli ministers for "systematic torture" leading to genocide.
Sanchez is among the EU leaders who have most strongly criticised Israeli and US violations of international law, including the wars in Gaza and Iran. He was the first EU leader to call Israel's war a genocide.
