In a bold act of diplomatic defiance that underscores deep European divides over the Gaza conflict and international accountability, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez bestowed one of his country’s highest civilian honors on Thursday upon Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestine who has been targeted with unprecedented U.S. sanctions for her work documenting human rights abuses and potential genocide in Gaza.
In an official statement announcing the award of the Order of Civil Merit, Sanchez emphasized that holding public office carries an inherent moral duty to confront injustice rather than ignore it. “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,” he wrote.
The ceremony and honor came just 24 hours after Sanchez took another high-profile stand against U.S. punitive measures targeting international justice bodies: he formally called on the European Commission to trigger the EU’s long-dormant Blocking Statute, a legal tool designed to protect European individuals and institutions from extraterritorial sanctions imposed by non-EU powers. Speaking a day ahead of the award, Sanchez rejected any tolerance for what he framed as a targeted campaign of intimidation. “The EU cannot stand idly by in the face of this persecution,” he said, adding that Brussels must defend the independence of both the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations, as well as their critical work “to end the genocide in Gaza.” “Sanctioning those who defend international justice puts the entire human rights system at risk,” he added.
Albanese, the first and so far only UN special rapporteur to face U.S. sanctions over her official mandate, was targeted by the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump last year. The restrictions, which include a visa ban that bars her from entering the United States and a freeze on any assets she holds in U.S. jurisdictions, were imposed over her documentation of human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories and her longstanding cooperation with the ICC’s investigations into potential atrocity crimes.
The ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, is the world’s only permanent international court with a mandate to prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Relations between the U.S. and the court have collapsed entirely since ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier this year, accusing the pair of overseeing systematic war crimes and atrocities in Gaza that began in October 2023. In addition to Albanese, the Trump administration has now imposed sanctions on 11 senior ICC officials, covering not only the court’s work on Gaza but also its long-running investigation into potential war crimes in Afghanistan connected to U.S. and Taliban forces.
Albanese was specifically sanctioned in July 2024 for her ongoing investigation into allegations of genocide in Gaza and her work with the ICC as part of her UN-mandated role. In addition to the travel and asset restrictions, the sanctions have cut her off from core global financial infrastructure, preventing her from completing routine daily transactions, she told Middle East Eye earlier this year. In February 2025, Albanese and her family filed a legal challenge against the Trump administration over the punitive measures, arguing they violate U.S. law and fundamental due process rights.
Since the outbreak of the current Israel-Gaza conflict in October 2023, Albanese has released four major official reports as special rapporteur, all of which have concluded that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide. She has also repeatedly condemned what she frames as global economic and political powers that have enabled and supported Israel’s operation, providing diplomatic cover and military supplies despite mounting evidence of atrocity crimes. Her most recent report called on the ICC to expand its arrest warrant list to include three senior Israeli cabinet ministers, whom she accuses of overseeing systematic torture of Palestinian civilians that amounts to acts of genocide.
Sanchez has emerged as the most outspoken critic among European Union leaders of what he frames as repeated violations of international law by Israel and the United States, not only in Gaza but across broader Middle East policy including tensions with Iran. He made history earlier this year as the first EU head of government to publicly label Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide, a stance that has put him at sharp odds with Washington and several Western European allies.