United Nations “Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories” Francesca Albanese made a public appearance on Tuesday in Bogotá, Colombia, following the State Department announcing sanctions on her for years of pro-Hamas, antisemitic rhetoric, delivering a speech calling for the destruction of Israel’s economy.
Albanese holds a unique role at the U.N. in which she is tasked with documenting potential human rights abuses in Gaza and the West Bank, under the authority of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which has struggled for years to overcome the influence of the nefarious dictatorships that make up its membership. As of October, the Council includes such repressive and actively genocidal states as Ethiopia, China, Cuba, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The “special rapporteur” has distinguished herself in her role through outlandish vitriolic statements against Israel and overt support for jihadist terrorist organizations such as Hamas. Albanese refused to explicitly condemn the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023, and instead insisted that “context” was necessary and Israel did not have a right to self-defense in response. Albanese also denied that the October 7 attack was antisemitic.
Prior to the October 7 attacks, which she has since used to justify more condemnations of Israel, Albanese declared that the United States was “subjugated by the Jewish lobby” and attended a Hamas conference, encouraging the jihadists to “resist.”
Albanese continued her strident condemnation of Israel in her remarks on Tuesday at a conference in Bogotá organized by the “Hague Group,” a coalition of anti-Israel countries led by the socialist governments of South Africa and Colombia. In her speech, Albanese demanded that every country in the world “suspend all ties with the state of Israel.”
“Each state must immediately review and suspend all ties with the state of Israel … and ensure its private sector does the same,” Albanese proclaimed. “The Israeli economy is structured to sustain the occupation that has now turned genocidal.”
“Cutting ties only with the components that are in the occupied territories would only treat the symptoms,” she suggested.
South Africa’s radical leftist government has attempted to bring charges against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its self-defense operations against Hamas in the aftermath of October 7 with mixed results. The campaign has led to several embarrassing episodes for South Africa, including the court reprimanding it for procedural errors and the country’s attorney misquoting both the Bible and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while making its case. The “Hague Group” is named after the city in which the ICJ is headquartered.
The government of Colombia, meanwhile, is led by a former member of the communist guerrilla terrorist group M19, President Gustavo Petro. Petro, as the nation’s first-ever leftist president, severed longstanding friendly relations between Colombia and Israel in 2024, using the communist holiday of “May Day” to announce he would cut diplomatic ties with Israel. Petro has repeatedly compared the Israeli government to that of Nazi Germany and referred to the United States as a “Nazi” entity.
Albanese’s invitation to Colombia was notable as it followed an announcement this month from the State Department that it would take the unprecedented measure of sanctioning her, the first U.N. official of her stature to be designated under American sanctions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement the move was necessary due to Albanese’s “illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.”
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” Rubio wrote. “We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense. The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies.”
U.N. Special Rapporteur for Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese takes part in a talk at The Hague Humanity Hub on February 12, 2025. (ROBIN UTRECHT/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a separate entity from the ICJ that only processes cases against individuals, not states, accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The ICJ only processes cases in which the parties involved are state entities. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 in response to Israel’s self-defense actions against Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking on Tuesday, Albanese called the sanctions on her “very serious” and insisted that she took “it very seriously.” The rapporteur condemned Rubio as “biased and malicious” and claimed the sanctions were a violation of international law.
“It’s clear violation of the U.N. Convention on Privileges and Immunities that protect U.N. officials, including independent experts, from words and actions taken in the exercise of their functions,” Albanese claimed.
In addition to her repeated statements in support of Hamas, her appearance at a Hamas conference, and her accusations of “genocide” against Israel, Albanese came under investigation last year for making strange international trips to advocate for Hamas. The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) confirmed to U.N. Watch, an international watchdog organization, that it had begun taking “appropriate action” in response to evidence U.N. Watch uncovered that Albanese may have taken undue payment for appearances to condemn Israel in Australia. Of particular note was a statement by one of the groups organizing her appearances, the Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA), that they had “sponsored” her visit in December 2023.
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