Yet another move by the Trump Administration designed to enable Israel's genocide in Gaza

July 10, 2025 — In response to the imposition of sanctions by the United States Department of State on the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:

We condemn in the strongest terms this dangerous escalation in the Trump administration’s frontal assault on the international justice system. The Special Rapporteur’s role in engaging with the International Criminal Court – as part of her official United Nations duties to monitor human rights abuses across the occupied Palestinian territory and make recommendations for accountability – is cited as the basis for her punishment. Such patently vindictive and repressive measures are as unlawful as they are reprehensible. 

Whether it is the arrests of students advocating for Palestinian rights, the red-carpet welcome of wanted Israeli war criminals to the White House, last month’s designation of Addameer, a leading Palestinian prisoners’ rights organization, or yesterday’s designation of a UN official who has been carefully gathering evidence of and demanding an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, we have seen over and over again that this administration is willing to destroy the most basic norms and disregard the most basic values in order to enable Israel to continue its genocide. 

In a time of mass atrocity, this administration is setting fire to the infrastructure of international accountability for atrocities. This deployment of U.S. sanctions schemes will ultimately be a futile effort to save Israeli and U.S. officials and corporations from liability for their involvement in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. This collective complicity in international crimes will only backfire by further isolating the United States and Israel from those who believe in international human rights and the rule of law.