Spain Awards Civil Merit to UN Rapporteur Albanese

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez awarded the Order of Civil Merit to Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, during a ceremony in Madrid on Thursday.

The honor, one of Spain's highest civilian distinctions granted for exceptional services to the state or society, recognizes Albanese's work documenting human rights violations amid the conflict in Gaza. Sánchez praised her in a social media post, stating, "Public responsibility also entails the moral obligation not to look the other way. It is an honor 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."

Albanese, an Italian legal scholar, has held the UN position since 2022. Her reports have focused on alleged Israeli actions in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, including a March 2024 document citing reasonable grounds to believe genocide was occurring based on statements from Israeli officials. She has also examined corporate and state involvement in supporting Israel's military...