Illustration: Paru Ramesh
We, the undersigned civil society organisations, express our grave concern over the unprecedented decision by the United States government to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
This move represents a dangerous escalation in efforts to silence human rights experts and discredit international accountability mechanisms. It undermines the independence of the UN Special Procedures system, and sends a chilling message to civil society and rights defenders who engage with mandate holders on issues ranging from health, freedom of expression, privacy, violence against women and torture to corporate accountability and business and human rights.
Albanese’s recent report, “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide”, reveals how the Israeli occupation "has become the ideal testing ground for arms manufacturers and big tech – providing boundless supply and demand, little oversight and zero accountability – while investors and private and public institutions profit freely.” It identifies several sectors that fuel the economy of occupation and of genocide, including military, surveillance, heavy machinery and construction, tourism, agribusiness and others. There is special emphasis on the role of big tech and the complicity of companies with a primary business model that relies on digital technology, like Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, HP, Airbnb and Booking.com, in violating the people’s right to self-determination, participating in annexation and occupation in Palestine.
The report also identifies how AI, cloud services, biometric surveillance and predictive policing technologies have reinforced military operations, population control and unlawful targeting of civilians in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. It presents a groundbreaking contribution to the understanding of how global corporate actors have enabled and profited from Israel’s illegal ocupation and their complicity in crimes of genocide and apartheid.
We, the undersigned, call on the United States government to immediately lift the sanctions against UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese and refrain from taking any actions that impede the work of mandate holders.
UN member states and international justice institutions must initiate investigations into the allegations leveled in Albanese’s report against corporate entities. Corporations found in violation of international law must face legal consequences for contributing to and causing human rights abuses against the Palestinian people.
Signatories:
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Taller de Comunicación Mujer
Labornet
LaLibre Tecnologías Comunitarias
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Privacy International
Alternatif Bilisim
Intervozes Coletivo Brasil de Comunicação Social
Homo Digitalis
SUPERRR Lab
Tech Global Institute
Arturo Enzo Bregaglio - Asociación Ciudad ViVa - Paraguay
Access Now
Nexus Research Cooperative, Ireland
Bits of Freedom
Ekō
Association France Palestine Solidarité - AFPS
The Palestine Committee in Norway
Palestine Legal
Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia
American Friends Service Committee
IFEX
World Association for Christian Communication (WACC)
Majal
FIAN International
The Tor Project
Telecomunicaciones Indígenas Comunitarias AC
Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad A.C.
Abolition Law Center
Derechos Digitales
Zaina Foundation
Hermes Center
TEDIC - Paraguay
IT for Change
Danes je nov dan, Inštitut za druga vprašanja
Palestinian Cenetr for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)
CITAD
BlueLink Foundation
Tech Workers Coalition
Ziggurat
Tech for Palestine
EngageMedia
No Tech for Apartheid
Transnational Institute
Myanmar Internet Project
NoScript
Fight for the Future
Alison Gillwald, University of Cape Town
+integridad MX
GreenNet
Alternatives International
Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)
IPANDETEC
Latin American Institute of Terraforming (terraforminglatam.net)
Abrimos.info
Visualizing Palestine
Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression for Human Rights (AFTE)
ALQST for Human Rights
SMEX
Pangea.org
Foundation for Media Alternatives
Jokkolabs Banjul
Fantsuam Foundation
JCA-NET (Japan)
7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Illustration: Paru Ramesh