UN rapporteur Albanese maintains harsh criticism of Israel
Published: Wednesday, Mar 27th 2024, 15:40
Back to Live Feed
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, is being threatened because of her harsh criticism of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, according to her own statements.
But none of this intimidates her, said the Italian lawyer and human rights expert in Geneva on Friday.
She has just submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council in which she accuses Israel of genocide. She described Israel as an apartheid state because of its treatment of Palestinians.
The Israeli government accuses her of questioning Israel's right to exist. Diplomatic representatives of other countries criticize her strong presence in social and other media, in addition to her role as special rapporteur, in which she always sharply criticizes Israel's actions.
When asked whether the criticism could make her give up, Albanese said at a press conference: "Absolutely not, that will never happen." Although the criticism makes her angry, it only confirms her resolve to continue her work.
"Human rights work means making the voices of people who are not being heard heard heard," she said. Her message remains clear: "Nothing justifies what Israel is doing (in the Gaza Strip)."
In its report, it called for an arms embargo against Israel and sanctions. It justified this by stating that it is convinced that Israel is violating international humanitarian law with the Gaza war, which has now resulted in more than 30,000 deaths, for example by collectively punishing Palestinians who no longer have enough to eat and can hardly receive any medical care due to the attacks on hospitals.
UN Special Rapporteurs are independent experts. The UN Human Rights Council appoints them to submit reports on specific topics or countries. They work free of charge and are not part of the United Nations.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic