A United Nations expert panel has issued a stern rebuke to several European nations for their demands that Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, resign from her position. The Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, comprising six independent experts, characterized the campaign against Albanese as fundamentally “rooted in disinformation.”
The controversy stems from edited video footage circulated by pro-Israel advocacy group UN Watch, which misleadingly suggested Albanese had referred to Israel as “the common enemy of humanity” during her address at the 17th Al Jazeera Forum earlier this month. Foreign ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and the Czech Republic subsequently called for her resignation based on this manipulated content.
The UN committee clarified that Albanese’s actual remarks used the phrase “common enemy” in context of criticizing political, military, and economic systems that have enabled Israel’s military operations in Gaza, not referring to Israel itself. In her February 7th remote address, Albanese stated: “We now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy and the respect of fundamental freedoms is the last peaceful avenue that we have to regain our freedom.”
The expert panel urged European governments to redirect their efforts toward ensuring Israeli accountability under international law rather than targeting Albanese, who faces “persistent intimidation, coordinated personal attacks and unlawful unilateral sanctions” while performing her mandate. The committee specifically called for support of International Criminal Court proceedings against officials accused of committing war crimes in Gaza.
The situation has escalated to legal dimensions, with a group of French international lawyers filing a formal complaint with Paris prosecutors accusing French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot of disseminating false information in his calls for Albanese’s resignation.
This incident represents the latest development in ongoing tensions surrounding Albanese’s work. In July, the United States imposed sanctions against her related to her investigations into potential genocide in Gaza, effectively barring her from entering the US and freezing her assets there. These measures have reportedly disrupted her access to global financial systems and daily transactions.
Since October 2023, Albanese has produced three major reports characterizing Israel’s military operations in Gaza as genocidal and criticizing global systems supporting these actions. In a November interview, she specifically accused 63 states of enabling Israeli violations of international law, noting that major European powers continue providing diplomatic, military and political cover despite overwhelming evidence of atrocities.