Amnesty International

02/13/2026

Background

On 7 February, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, spoke at a forum in Doha organized by Al Jazeera. She said:

“The fact that instead of stopping Israel, most of the world has armed, given Israel political excuses, political sheltering, economic and financial support […] We who do not control large amounts of financial capitals, algorithms and weapons, we now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy, and freedoms, the respect of fundamental freedoms is the last peaceful avenue, the last peaceful toolbox that we have to regain our freedom.”

These comments were misconstrued as describing Israel as that “common enemy”. Albanese rejected these accusations and clarified her comments on social media that “the common enemy of humanity is the system that has enabled the genocide in Palestine, including the financial capital that funds it, the algorithms that obscure it and the weapons that enable it”.

On 11 February, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot made a statement calling for the Special Rapporteur to resign. This was followed by similarly harmful statements from Austrian, Czech, German and Italian ministers.

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Reacting to calls by ministers and officials in France and Czechia for Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, to resign, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:

“It is reprehensible that ministers in Austria, Czechia, France, Germany and Italy have attacked the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese, based on a deliberately truncated video to misrepresent and gravely misconstrue her messages – as is clear from watching her original address in its entirety.

“The ministers that have spread disinformation must act beyond merely deleting their comments on social media – as some have done. They must publicly apologize and retract any calls for Francesca Albanese’s resignation. Their governments must also investigate how this disinformation happened with a view to preventing such situations.

“If only these ministers had been as loud and forceful in confronting a state committing genocide, unlawful occupation and apartheid as they have in attacking a UN expert. Their cowardice and refusal to hold Israel accountable stand in stark contrast to the Special Rapporteur’s unwavering commitment to speaking truth to power.

“The Special Rapporteur’s commitment to objectively investigate facts based on hard evidence and apply international law has been vital in exposing Israel’s ongoing violations of Palestinians’ rights and the complicity of third parties. The calls for her to resign are the latest in a series of alarming personal attacks and attempts to silence her – and must be categorically rejected. This campaign to discredit her only serves as a smokescreen to deflect attention away from Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its system of apartheid and unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“Despite a drop in Israeli air attacks and some limited improvements in the cross-border movement of goods and people since the truce in October 2025, there has been no meaningful change in the conditions Israel is inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza and no evidence to indicate that Israel’s intent has changed. The genocide is ongoing.

“Israeli military operations in the occupied Gaza Strip have continued, killing over 590 Palestinians since October 2025. The estimated death toll of Palestinian victims since October 2023 now stands at over 72,000.

“This is a critical moment for humanity, with international law and human rights institutions under attack like never before. The use of misinformation to further delegitimize them poses a profound threat to human rights and the rule of law itself.

“This is the precise moment that states such as Austria, Czechia, France, Germany and Italy should be taking a stand. They must demonstrate their commitment to upholding their legal obligations to stop Israel’s genocide and bring its decades-long international crimes to an end. This means actively supporting UN mechanisms and respecting the autonomy of UN-appointed independent human rights experts. They must act to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing genocide, apartheid and unlawful occupation, rather than joining the shameful bandwagon of weaponizing disinformation against this Special Rapporteur.”