UN body condemns attacks on Albanese

GENEVA: An independent United Nations body on Tuesday condemned what it described as vicious attacks based on disinformation by several Europ­ean ministers against the organisation’s special rapporteur for Palestine, Francesca Albanese.

In the past week several European countries, including Germany, France and Italy, have called for Albanese’s resignation over her alleged criticism of Israel. The Italian lawyer, denies making the remarks, and an AI-manipulated video was found to be the source of the allegations.

On Friday, the Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister Petr Macinka quoted Albanese on X as having called Israel a “common enemy of humanity”, and also called for her resignation.

The UN Coordination Committee - a body of six independent experts which coordinates and facilitates the work of Special Rapporteurs - accused European ministers of relying on “manufactured facts”.

“Instead of demanding Ms Albanese’s resignation for performing her mandate…these government representatives should join forces to hold accountable, including before the International Criminal Court, leaders and officials accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza,” the Committee said.

It said the pressure exerted on Albanese was part of an increasing trend of politically motivated and malicious attacks against independent human rights experts, UN officials and judges of international courts.

US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on Albanese after she wrote letters to US companies, accusing them of contributing to gross human rights violations by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank.

There is no precedent for removing a special rapporteur during their term, although diplomats said that states on the 47-member council could in theory propose a motion to do so.

However, they said strong support for Palestinian rights within the body means that such a motion was unlikely to pass.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2026

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