"Israel has accused me of witchcraft in 2025" Francesca Albanese tells the UN Committee

On 30 October 2025, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People organized a virtual briefing titled “Safeguarding Human Rights, Ensuring Accountability and Ending the Unlawful Occupation of Palestine”. Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the OPT, started her briefing by noting her absence in person due to a US-imposed travel ban following her UN reports, calling it an “ad hominem measure” and evidence of an “unacceptable” trend of intimidation against mandate holders. She stressed that she was being sanctioned for doing her job – documenting Israeli violations and reporting to the UN “the gravity, the depth of crimes.” She expressed disappointment that the UN system had not yet acted in unison to protect its independent experts, arguing this signaled broader institutional weakness. She also referenced a recent incident in the General Assembly’s Third Committee in which she was accused of “witchcraft” by the Israeli representative, calling it a telling example of gendered attacks against women who “speak truth to power” and denouncing it as emblematic of efforts to silence UN mandate-holders. Ms. Albanese characterized Israel as an apartheid and settler-colonial regime that has “turned genocidal,” asserting that international complicity has allowed violations to intensify. She condemned military, economic, and diplomatic support to Israel as potentially amounting to complicity, noting that such links “lead to responsibility” under international law. She criticized humanitarian operations that placed aid routes under control of the “genocidal state” and its allies, calling this a “partner in crime” arrangement inconsistent with ICJ orders. She warned the UN is losing moral authority and the confidence of future generations: “The United Nations… is not able to preserve peace.” Ms. Albanese urged renewed commitment to decolonization and self-determination, stating that Palestine stands as a litmus test for the international system’s credibility and capacity to uphold global norms. “We still have a little time to recover,” she said, “but we need to do the right thing.” More details: https://www.un.org/unispal/committee-...