On the eve of Francesca Albanese’s re-appointment for a second three-year term as the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Palestine, in a letter dated March 28, 2025, the UNHRC’s Coordination Committee finally responded — some ten months after the fact — to UN Watch’s detailed legal complaint against Albanese. UN Watch’s complaint had alleged serious financial misconduct and ethical abuses by Albanese in violation of the Special Procedures Code of Conduct, including illegally requesting payments for work done in her official capacity, receiving funding from pro-Palestinian lobby groups for her November 2023 trip to Australia, and antisemitism — for which she has now been condemned by the U.S., Canada, France, and Germany.
The Coordination Committee is a committee of six special procedures mandate holders. It is tasked with advocating for the special procedures and facilitating their work and has no mandate to investigate or punish alleged violations by special procedures. Unsurprisingly, this Committee — composed of Albanese’s colleagues — exonerated her of all wrongdoing. Among other things, it found that while “some of her tweets” could be seen as antisemitic in violation of the Code of Conduct, the Committee was satisfied that the tweets were not antisemitic after speaking to Albanese and being “reassured by [her] detailed explanations.”
At the same time, the Coordination Committee did rebuke Albanese for her conduct, as indicated in the below quotes from its letter.
- “The Committee reiterates that the use of social media by mandate holders should be in line with the Code of Conduct, the Manual of Operations and the country visit terms of reference.”
- “The Committee is of the view that while some of her tweets may appear as not being in line with the Code of Conduct and may have been interpreted by some as antisemitic…”
- “The Committee stresses that mandate holders should exercise sound judgement to express their views on social media to preserve integrity, independence and impartiality and to promote constructive dialogue among all relevant stakeholders.”
- “Regarding the allegations related to the Special Rapporteur’s trip to Australia, the Committee recalls the crucial importance of avoiding real or perceived conflicts of interest.”
- “The Committee emphasizes that mandates holders should exercise due diligence in assessing potential sponsorships from any organizations in a way that does not result in real or perceived conflict of interest, taking into account the specificities of each mandate.”
- “Concerning the issues related to the honorarium, the Committee recognizes that it was inappropriate to suggest that the honorarium be transferred toward the fellowship of Ms. Albanese’s assistant…”
- “The Committee calls on the cautious use of external assistants to avoid perception of conflict of interest.”
