The UN’s pro-Hamas official Francesca Albanese said the new U.S. sanctions against her are “horrible” because “it changes my life… it affects deeply my private life, that of my family.”
Francesca Albanese Interview with Iranian regime’s Press TV, August 5, 2025
“And what does it mean to be sanctioned by a superpower? It means to be sanctioned, and it’s horrible because it changes my life. It affects deeply my private life, that of my family, and it’s unacceptable. This is against the UN Charter. This is against the UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities. And it must be, the sanctions must be removed. So I expect the United Nations to act with the United States diplomatically, politically, with the way they want, to make sure that this is redressed, because it’s unacceptable.”
“Last question. I’ll let you go. It’s about UN Watch’s, what’s your take on UN Watch’s legal appeal to Elon Musk to enforce the new U.S. Sanctions against Francesca Albanese? The blue check has been removed. You know that. Your blue check.”
“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Who cares? The blue check? I don’t care. I don’t care. I mean, what is it, that I need to write more succinctly? I will.”
Francesca Albanese Has No UN Immunity Because Her “Reappointment” Was Done Illegally
As shown in the UN Watch letter below, in fact Francesca Albanese has no UN immunity because her term legally ended on April 30, 2025.
Ms. Francesca Albanese
UN Human Rights Council
Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva23 April 2025
Notice of Invalid Appointment and Cessation of Mandate Effective 1 May 2025
Dear Ms. Albanese,
This letter serves as formal notice that the purported renewal of your UN mandate, as “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,” is invalid and without legal effect, and therefore null and void. The purported renewal, announced at the conclusion of the 58th session of the Human Rights Council, was carried out in direct contravention of the governing legislation-as mandated under Presidential Statement 8/PRST/2 and enshrined in Article 7 of the Manual of Operations of the Special Procedures-which requires the President to bring forward to the Council any information of persistent non-compliance with the Code of Conduct for Special Procedure Mandate-Holders. As you are aware, a formal submission with a 56-page dossier documenting your sustained and egregious violations of that Code-including breaches of impartiality, integrity, and restraint-was submitted by United Nations Watch to the President of the Council on 26 March 2025.
In addition to our own submission, receipt of which was duly acknowledged by the President’s office on 28 March, letters to the President were filed by the Governments of Argentina, Hungary, and Israel, as well as by the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. Congress, who called on the President to exercise his “sworn duty to utilize [his] authority as stated in Presidential Statement 8/2 (PRST/8/2) to ‘convey to the Council any information brought to [his] attention concerning cases of persistent non-compliance by a mandate-holder with the provisions of Council Resolution 5/2, especially prior to the renewal of mandate holders in office.’” Astonishingly, in complete violation of his duties and of the prescribed legal procedure, the President refused to do so. Likewise, the Council itself violated its express duty to even “consider such information,” let alone to “act upon it as appropriate.”
The President’s failure to discharge his duty to transmit to the Council these and other letters documenting your widespread, systematic and gross violations of the Code of Conduct, as explicitly required under 8/PRST/2 and the Manual of Operations of the Special Procedures, renders your purported renewal procedurally defective, legally invalid, and ultra vires, and therefore null and void. Warning of these legal consequences was duly delivered to the Secretary-General in our letter of 3 April 2025.
Finally, we note that the President’s decision, as recounted in the UNHRC Bureau Minutes of 1 April 2025, to instead divert the complaint letters to the Coordination Committee, was a flagrant attempt to bypass the Council and its Member States. In doing so, the President-with the Bureau’s complicity-not only acted without legal authority, but also subverted the Council’s integrity and its duty of oversight. This was not a procedural slip; it was a willful abdication of responsibility. According to 8/PRST/2, when such allegations arise, the President must bring the matter to the attention of the 47-nation Council for its consideration and action. Handing the letters to an irrelevant committee-comprised of your own colleagues-was a dereliction of duty, devoid of legal effect, and void ab initio.
Accordingly, your mandate shall terminate on 30 April 2025, upon the expiration of your initial term, and any continued exercise of authority beyond that date is without legal basis or effect. As of 1 May 2025, you shall hold no legal authority to act in the name of the United Nations, and you will not, and cannot claim to be, the “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories.” Any continued use of the title, platform, or privileges associated with that position would constitute a misrepresentation and may give rise to further legal and diplomatic consequences.
Please note that as of that date, you will no longer benefit from any privileges or immunities under the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, or any other source of international legal protection afforded to mandate-holders acting in an official capacity. As such, you may be subject to legal proceedings in the United States or other jurisdictions, including civil or criminal liability; may be denied entry or visa access to countries that recognize your lack of official status; and may be subject to targeted sanctions for inciting racism and antisemitism-for which you were recently condemned by the governments of the United States, France, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands, among others-and for providing material support to designated terrorist organizations. We trust you will govern yourself accordingly.
Sincerely,
Hillel C. Neuer
Executive Director
CC:
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly
