- In a scathing letter, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division condemned UN official Francesca Albanese for a “defamatory” and “dangerous” campaign targeting institutions that support Israel, accusing her of abusing her office and spreading antisemitic falsehoods. Citing new revelations that she took funding from pro-Hamas groups, the DOJ called on the United Nations to immediately remove Albanese from her post.
The U.S. government’s action comes in wake of a bombshell new report from Swiss human rights group UN Watch that exposes how the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine engaged in a cover-up to hide illicit funding by pro-Hamas groups for her activities in Australia and New Zealand where she lobbied for divestment from Israel.
Because of the Australian connection, UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, an international lawyer, is today travelling to Canberra to meet with government officials and present the report before the national media.
Enitled “Nothing to Hide”, the report reveals that UN officials quietly acknowledged Albanese’s financial wrongdoing in recent findings, even as they cleared the way for the wrongful renewal of her mandate for another three years.
The UN committee contradicted Albanese’s repeated declarations since November 2023, echoed by the UN human rights office, that her travels were funded by the UN, finding instead that she received funding by “external groups” for her travels in Australia and New Zealand.
The report also called out Albanese’s “inappropriate” conduct regarding her practice of soliciting funds for UN activities, which she knew was wrong.
Funds were solicited at Albanese’s request for an honorarium that she asked donors to funnel to her research assistant Sara Troian, using invoices issued by Erasmus University in Rotterdam, whose International Institute for Social Studies hosted Troian for a fellowship.
Troian accompanied Albanese on her lobbying trips to Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney, Auckland and Wellington, as well on other trips. Today she is part of Albanese’s “Global Network for the Question of Palestine.”
Albanese’s financial wrongdoing constitutes a flagrant violation of the UN’s code of conduct, which requires UN officials to be impartial and independent and forbids them from accepting payment for activities carried out in pursuit of their mandate.
UN Engaged In Cover-Up to Hide Albanese’s Pro-Hamas Funding
The report reveals how the UN and Albanese both tried to conceal her wrongdoing over 16 months:
- Francesca Albanese repeatedly lied about the allegations of her financial misconduct, insisting her trip to Australia “was paid by the UN.” Even as the evidence mounted to the contrary, Albanese doubled down, declaring, “I have never had, and will never have, anything to hide.”
- The UN Secretary-General’s spokespersons falsely denied that his Secretariat oversaw the expenses of UN special rapporteurs. A UN spokesperson
