11/07/2025 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on “The absolute and urgent need to end the humanitarian crisis for women, children and the hostages in Gaza", made the following statement today:
“I am deeply concerned by the recent announcement by United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposing sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
This action represents a troubling attack on the independence and integrity of the United Nations system. Special Rapporteurs serve as impartial experts tasked with upholding international law and reporting truthfully on human rights conditions. To sanction them for fulfilling this duty undermines the foundations of international accountability and justice.
I cannot overstate the scale of suffering we are witnessing. Children in Gaza face a humanitarian emergency of abysmal severity - many have been orphaned, displaced, injured, or killed. Access to food, water, healthcare and education has collapsed. These are daily realities of innocent lives shattered by prolonged conflict and blockade.
To penalise a UN expert for shedding light on these conditions is to ignore - and in effect, to enable - the continued suffering of civilians, particularly women and children. The work of independent UN experts is not only legitimate, it is indispensable.
I express my unwavering support for the United Nations and its staff, including Special Rapporteurs, who carry out their mandates under often difficult and politically sensitive circumstances. Their work is essential to defending human rights, promoting peace and upholding the rule of law globally.
Attempts to intimidate or penalise UN officials for carrying out their duties constitute an affront to the principles of multilateralism and the international legal order, to which all states are bound.”