The United Nations has told JNS that it cannot fire Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur for Palestinian rights, for antisemitic statements or tell her what to do, since she is an “independent expert” who falls outside the normal bureaucratic structure. But after the Trump administration sanctioned her for Jew-hatred, the United Nations says that such a call is “dangerous” and “unacceptable.”
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, told reporters on Thursday that “the imposition of sanctions on special rapporteurs is a dangerous precedent.”
“That being said, member states are perfectly entitled to their views and to disagree with the reports by special rapporteurs, but we encourage them to engage with the U.N.’s human rights architecture,” Dujarric told reporters. “The use of unilateral sanctions against special rapporteurs, or any other U.N. expert or official, is unacceptable.”
As a U.N. “expert,” Albanese, who doesn’t draw a U.N. salary but who has drawn criticism for apparent pro-Hamas funding ties, falls under the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Washington has criticized her and called her statements antisemitic for years, but the new sanctions came after Albanese sent harassing letters to private businesses and nonprofits, including in the United States, and recommended that the International Criminal Court probe them for doing business with Israel. (Neither Washington nor Jerusalem is a party to the Rome Statute, which establishes ICC jurisdiction.)
JNS asked Dujarric about Albanese during a press briefing on Friday.
“Issues having to do with any of the rapporteurs’ credentials, ideas or anything need to be raised with the presidency of the Human Rights Council, right?” he told JNS.
Jürg Lauber, president of the U.N. Human Rights Council, and his representatives have censured criticism of Albanese, personal or professional, deeming such comments disrespectful.
Asked on Thursday if Guterres supports Albanese on a personal level, Dujarric said that “the secretary-general respects the work of all U.N. human rights rapporteurs. Their work is extremely important.”
Guterres reportedly called Albanese “a horrible person” within earshot of reporters.
Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged the “prompt reversal” of the U.S. sanctions against Albanese “in response to work she has undertaken under the mandate” she is charged with.
“Even in face of fierce disagreement, U.N. member states should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures,” Türk stated on Thursday.
“The solution is not less, but more, debate and dialogue on the very real human rights concerns they address,” Türk stated.
Lauber, the U.N. Human Rights Council president, stated that special rapporteurs “are an essential instrument” used in fulfilling the council’s mandate. He urged all member states to “fully cooperate” with the advisers and “refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal against them.”
Albanese told the Middle East Eye on Thursday that “it looks like I’ve hit a nerve.”
She also accused the Trump administration of “blowing up the system that protects all of us” and “eroding the foundation of the multilateral order.”
“There are 193 members of the United Nations, and we are called the United Nations, not the United States,” she said.
The United States is by far the largest financial contributor to the United Nations, though U.S. President Donald Trump has instituted major cutbacks in the wake of the U.N.’s handling of Israel and through a broader desire to streamline foreign aid.
