The UN Human Rights Council has appointed Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese as the new special envoy to examine human rights in the Palestinian territories.
Albanese, who previously worked in the legal department of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), has published numerous studies on Palestinian refugees and two years ago published the book “The Status of Palestinian Refugees in International Law” with Lek Takenberg. She has also served as a researcher at Georgetown University and the American University of Beirut.
As part of her new role, which she is due to fulfill in the next six years after replacing the current envoy, Michael Link, Albanese will be required to “monitor and report on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories” and investigate Israeli violations of international law, international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention “.
A new report released by UN Watch warned that Albanese’s appointment violates the principle that independent UN experts should act impartially and objectively, and that Albanese herself also admitted last year that her views “could undermine my objectivity”.
Among other things, the report noted that Albanese compared the Holocaust to the Nakba and praised the organizations that accused Israel of being an “apartheid state.” Last year, she wrote that “Israel is promoting its ‘colonization’ plans – committing serious human rights violations and holding millions of captive citizens.” In a post she published in May last year, she called the embargo an weapon against Israel.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN institutions in Geneva, Meirav Elon Shachar, condemned the Human Rights Council over the appointment. “The council does not reflect the reality on the ground. It does not reflect the summit that took place in the Negev, “she said in a conversation with the Jewish Insider website, referring to the historic meeting of foreign ministers this week.