International accountability mechanisms are under attack. A week ago, the US sanctioned UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, a key actor in the fight for accountability in Gaza. A few days later, on July 15, the three members of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Navi Pillay, Chris Sidoti, and Miloon Kothari, suddenly and suspiciously resigned from their positions – the first ever joint resignation of a UN Commission of Inquiry – leading some to suspect they sought to avoid potential US sanctions. That same day, Middle East Eye detailed how, back in May, Nicholas Kaufman, an Israeli lawyer with apparent ties to the Netanyahu government, allegedly secretly threatened International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan, who had been recently sanctioned by the US, not to request further arrest warrants against Israel or he and the court would be “destroyed.” About a month after the alleged threat was made, four ICC judges were sanctioned, too.
The targeting of these three institutions is no coincidence. …..more
