Responding to the US State Department’s announcement in a statement yesterday that it has, for the second consecutive year, barred the high-level delegation of the State of Palestine, including Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, from attending the UN General Assembly in New York, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas said:
“The decision by the US State Department to deny visas to a high-level delegation of the State of Palestine to attend the 81st session of the UN General Assembly must be reversed. The State Department’s statement makes it obvious: this decision is designed to punish the State of Palestine for pursuing international justice and accountability at international institutions, including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ). This measure is part of a relentless campaign of reprisals against the very notion of international justice.
This measure is part of a relentless campaign of reprisals against the very notion of international justice.
Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International
“The failure to respect and uphold international law and the ongoing assault, including through unilateral sanctions, on individuals or human rights groups committed to promoting international justice, as well as the utter disregard for binding orders and advisory opinions of the ICJ, arrest warrants issued by the ICC and UN General Assembly and UN Security Council resolutions, flagrantly undermine the international legal order.
“As more member states are finally taking long overdue – albeit still jarringly insufficient – measures to end trade with Israel’s illegal settlements, they must also firmly stand against the US attempts to dismantle international justice and the very multilateralism upon which the UN system is premised.
“Decisions like this, which constitute a clear violation of the UN Headquarters Agreement, are setting a dangerous precedent in which the US instrumentalizes its privilege as the host country of the UN to impose arbitrary restrictions on attending the UNGA, and other UN meetings.
“Amnesty International reiterates its call on the US to immediately and unconditionally revoke sanctions it has imposed in relation to the ICC or on individuals and human rights groups fighting for international justice, including sanctions imposed on ICC judges, Palestinian human rights organizations and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Instead of eroding international law, the US must use its immense leverage to pressure Israel to put an end to its unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory, dismantle its system of apartheid, and end its genocide against Palestinians in the Occupied Gaza Strip.”