Punishing one, teaching a hundred?US sanctions on Francesca Albanese and the current trends in international politics and human rights

This article examines the causes and implications of the unprecedented US sanctions imposed on the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese. It discusses three interlinked hypotheses to explain this move: 1) the sanctions are the apex of a broader effort by some world leaders to side-line human rights principles and international protection mechanisms when they clash with national interests; 2) they represent an escalation in the “propaganda war” between the US, Israel and human rights advocates over the Palestinian issue; 3) they directly respond to Albanese’s investigations into the corporate role in facilitating crimes in Palestine, thereby threatening US, Israeli and European economic interests. The article concludes that the sanctions crystallize the immense power imbalances that continue to undermine the international human rights regime and the rule of law in international relations.