UN Watch continues to lead the campaign against Francesca Albanese—the UN’s Special Rapporteur who has repeatedly spread antisemitism and whitewashed Hamas atrocities.
In March, UN Watch formally invoked UNHRC Procedure 8/PRST/2 to UNHRC President Jürg Lauber, documenting Albanese’s persistent noncompliance with the UN Code of Conduct.
Following our lead, the governments of Israel, the Netherlands, Argentina, Hungary and the United States publicly declared their opposition to Albanese’s reappointment.
And yet, on April 4th, President Lauber violated UN rules by failing to convey our information to Council members—a required step that would have triggered a vote on Albanese’s renewal. As a result, Albanese’s mandate was improperly extended through procedural fraud.
We are not staying silent.
UN Watch has now written to Secretary-General António Guterres to declare that Albanese’s purported reappointment was illegally carried out, rendering her term renewal null and void. Accordingly, as of May 1st, she holds no UN mandate, no immunity, and can be sanctioned and denied entry.
As such, we have also written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on the U.S. Government to sanction Albanese, deny her a visa to the United States, and to affirm that she no longer benefits from any form of diplomatic immunity.
View the letter to Secretary Rubio here
The Honorable Marco Rubio
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
30 April 2025
Dear Secretary Rubio,
On behalf of United Nations Watch, I write to urge action regarding Francesca Albanese, the UN’s pro-Hamas “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories.” Her purported reappointment this month was illegally carried out in violation of express UN rules requiring investigation of her misconduct, rendering her term renewal null and void. Accordingly, for the reasons explained in our attached
letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, her term ends today. As of tomorrow, May 1st, she holds no UN mandate, no immunity, and can be sanctioned and denied entry.
Francesca Albanese’s record is marked by persistent incitement of antisemitism and material support for terrorist organizations, as documented in our report, “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.” Given her abhorrent actions, we respectfully urge you to:
• Sanction Francesca Albanese for materially supporting acts of terrorism and promoting antisemitic hate, actions which threaten international peace and security and undermine U.S. allies.
• Deny her entry or visa access to the United States on the grounds that she persistently incites hatred against Jews and endorses, espouses, promotes, and supports antisemitic terrorism and antisemitic terrorist organizations, as documented in the above mentioned report.
• Affirm that she no longer benefits from any form of diplomatic immunity and, as of May 1st, is subject to civil and criminal legal proceedings in U.S. courts.
As you have emphasized, individuals who endorse or abet terrorist organizations must face consequences, including visa denial. Francesca Albanese’s abuse of a global platform to spread hatred and legitimize terrorism demands an unequivocal response. We stand ready to provide any further support that may assist your efforts.
Sincerely,
Hillel C. Neuer
Executive Director
