Spain Awards Civil Merit Honour To UN Rapporteur For Documenting Crimes In Gaza

OVIEDO (Spain), May 7 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday awarded the Order of Civil Merit to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, recognising her work documenting violations of international law in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.

Sanchez received Francesca Albanese in Madrid, where they discussed the situation in Palestine, the importance of international law and “the need for an immediate end to the violence and the building of a lasting peace based on dignity and humanity,” according to a government statement.

“Public responsibility also implies the moral obligation of not looking away,” Sanchez wrote on social media, praising Albanese as “a voice that upholds the conscience of the world.”

The Order of Civil Merit is one of Spain’s highest civilian honours and is awarded to Spanish and foreign citizens for extraordinary services benefiting the state or society.

Albanese, an Italian legal scholar, has served since 2022 as the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. She has become one of the most prominent international voices criticising Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

On Tuesday, Sanchez also sent a letter to the European Commission calling for the activation of the EU’s Blocking Statute to counter US sanctions imposed on Albanese as well as judges and prosecutors from the International Criminal Court.

“It’s like an international mafia -- they want to silence everyone who demands an end to genocide, an end to the crimes,” Albanese told Spanish broadcaster RTVE, referring to the sanctions against her.

Also on Thursday, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares criticised Israel’s continued detention of Spanish-Palestinian activist Saif Abukeshek, calling it “inadmissible and unacceptable.”

Jose Manuel Albares told the Spanish parliament that he summoned Israel’s top envoy in Spain on Wednesday to discuss the situation and had also spoken with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

Albares said Abukeshek was “illegally” detained in international waters where Israel had “no jurisdiction” while travelling with a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla.

“Spain reacted without hesitation, with complete clarity and firmness, in response to violations of international law,” Albares said.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU

TAGS: Spain, Pedro Sanchez, Order of Civil Merit, UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese

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