The US sanctioning of the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, has prompted calls for legal action at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on account of her diplomatic immunity.

Albanese was sanctioned by the US on Wednesday in connection with her work as a UN expert scrutinising Israeli and US actions in occupied Palestine.

Albanese is the first mandate holder in the history of the UN to be the subject of sanctions.

The 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN, to which the US is a party, enshrines the immunity of UN special rapporteurs from any legal process. The sanctions imposed on Albanese fall under the definition of “legal process” and therefore constitute a breach of the treaty, fellow UN experts and scholars told Middle East Eye.

The immunity granted to UN experts aims at enabling them to carry out their work independently without interruption.

Read More: Middle East Eye