Global organisations rally behind UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese amid dismissal calls

Rights groups, UN human rights experts and public figures have issued statements backing Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, after several European ministers called for her resignation.

The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council said disinformation campaigns seeking to discredit Albanese were escalating and aimed to silence voices pressing states to meet legal obligations regarding Gaza and the West Bank.

The Council said Albanese had acted within her mandate and carried out her duties by documenting alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide, while urging states and corporations to avoid complicity in violations.

It rejected accusations that Albanese violated her mandate or engaged in antisemitism, and challenged governments advancing those claims to provide evidence, calling instead for an objective reading of her reports and public statements.

The Council said the attacks fit a broader pattern of pressure on international accountability, citing threats and sanctions against International Criminal Court judges and staff, attacks on UN symbols, destruction of UNRWA facilities and restrictions affecting humanitarian and media work.

It said the campaign intensified after sanctions imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump and a letter sent in June 2025 to UN Secretary-General António Guterres calling for Albanese’s dismissal.

The Council said officials from Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Austria and Italy joined what it described as an organised smear campaign designed to divert attention from alleged complicity or silence over crimes in Gaza.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Dr Agnès Callamard, condemned what she called attacks by ministers in Austria, Czechia, France, Germany and Italy, saying they were based on a “deliberately truncated video” that misrepresented Albanese’s message.

Dr Callamard said ministers who spread disinformation should go beyond deleting posts, publicly apologise and retract calls for resignation, and that governments should investigate how the disinformation spread to prevent similar incidents.

Amnesty linked the dispute to Albanese’s remarks on 7 February at a Doha forum organised by Al Jazeera, where she said “we as a humanity have a common enemy” while discussing international political, economic and military support for Israel.

Amnesty said those remarks were misconstrued as describing Israel as the “common enemy”. It said Albanese rejected that interpretation and clarified that she referred to “the system” enabling atrocities, including financial capital, algorithms and weapons.

In its statement, Amnesty argued that despite a truce in October 2025 and limited improvements in cross-border movement, there had been no meaningful change in Gaza’s conditions and said there was no evidence of a change in intent.

Amnesty said Israeli military operations in Gaza had continued, killing more than 590 Palestinians since October 2025, with the estimated death toll since October 2023 exceeding 72,000.

It also said attacks by Israeli forces and state-backed settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, had killed more than 1,100 Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands since October 2023.

Amnesty referenced actions by international courts, including repeated International Court of Justice orders to prevent genocidal acts and its advisory opinion describing the occupation as unlawful and requiring it to end as soon as possible.

It also cited arrest warrants it said were issued by the International Criminal Court against Israel’s prime minister and a former defence minister for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council condemned what it called “vicious attacks, rooted in disinformation” against Albanese, saying ministers relied on “manufactured facts” about statements she “never made”.

The Committee said politically motivated and malicious attacks on independent experts, UN officials and international judges risk becoming normalised, and urged states to focus on accountability for egregious violations rather than targeting mandate holders.

It reiterated that the Special Rapporteur’s mandate is to investigate alleged violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.

The Committee said that, instead of demanding resignation, ministers should join efforts to hold accountable, including before the International Criminal Court, leaders and officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Another account said a UN committee able to review complaints involving Special Rapporteurs dismissed allegations of antisemitism against Albanese as based on disinformation, while noting no formal complaint had been filed over the latest remarks.

That account said an edited clip circulating online made it appear Albanese described Israel as humanity’s “common enemy”, and said the altered video had been viewed more than one million times on X.

It said resignation demands were led by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and supported by Germany, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic, while also noting Albanese rejected allegations of antisemitism.

A separate statement of support came from Artists for Palestine, which said more than 100 prominent artists signed an open letter backing Albanese as a defender of human rights and rejecting what it described as a debunked “fake video”.

Supporters named in the account included actors Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem, Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux and musician Annie Lennox.

Across the solidarity statements, the core argument is that attacks on Albanese are intended to deter scrutiny of alleged crimes, while critics maintain their objections reflect concerns about her conduct and past statements.