Albanian member of the UN pranks Israel and Hamas?
The UN Special Rapporteur on respect for human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, should guarantee impartiality, promote the peace process and protect Palestinian and Israeli civilians, however, in her past and in what she officially declared when running for office assignment there would seem to be some stains… Albanese's reply on X
The lawyer Francesca Albanese, an authoritative voice often present on TV and in newspapers since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas as Special Rapporteur on respect for human rights in the Palestinian territories on behalf of the specific United Nations council, apparently failed to point out in your application for the position some details that do not make you entirely impartial.
This was stated by UN Watch, a non-governmental organization based in Geneva whose mission is to monitor the performance of the United Nations on the basis of its Charter.
The Iene journalist Antonino Monteleone brought the news to light with a tweet :
ALBANESE'S (VOLUNTARY?) OMISSIONS
Maintaining impartiality in a conflict to advance the peace process and protect civilians – on both sides – should indeed be a fundamental requirement. However, Albanese appears not to have declared the truth on the matter.
The UN Watch document , also attached by Monteleone, presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in its 49th session and published in March 2022, bears the subtitle “How Michael Lynk failed in his UN mandate to protect human rights human rights of the Palestinians from 2016 to 2022 – and why his designated successor, Francesca Albanese, is likely to do the same” .
Albanese, appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories for a three-year mandate on 1 May 2022, according to the document, in her candidacy , when asked whether she had "views or opinions that could prejudice the way which the candidate carries out the mandate" replied "no".
“Yet – observes UN Watch – just last year, Albanese acknowledged the opposite, stating that his 'deeply held personal opinions' on the Palestinian issue 'could compromise my objectivity'”.
Furthermore, in her application, Albanese also declared the absence of personal conflicts of interest, failing to reveal that in the past her husband, Massimiliano Calì, worked for the Palestinian National Authority.
“According to its own rules – states the document -, UNHCR must give 'maximum importance' to 'impartiality' when selecting mandate holders” and “Albanese is the opposite of impartiality”.
THE ROLE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR
The position of UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, the UN Watch document states, “was created by Arab states as a political weapon to target Israel and democracies appear resigned to letting the Palestinians choose the candidate. Yet, if there were an objective expert to fill the mandate, he could use it to support human rights for both Palestinians and Israelis.”
“Although the title implies concern for all the actors in the area – continues the text -, in reality the rapporteur's mandate – unchanged since February 1993 – is solely to investigate 'violations by Israel of the principles and foundations of international law'. Whatever Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Authority do, whether towards their own people or the Israelis, is excluded."
TURNING A EYE ON HAMAS DOES NOT DO THE GOOD FOR THE PALESTINIANS
The bullying, but above all the violence, perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians – from the most distant to the siege of the Gaza Strip in violation of international humanitarian law and up to the latest events of the settlers in the West Bank – must not be silenced but a neutral gaze , who remains impartial, as should be the case for a United Nations representative, is essential to avoid falling into the trap that each of the two parties sets in a conflict. In fact, the Palestinians are not Hamas and not saying how a terrorist group acts even on the people it claims to defend – but uses as a human shield – will not solve the problem but above all it will continue to foment hatred and death on both fronts.
As stated in the UN Watch report, Albanese's predecessor, Michael Lynk, in his six years in office "did not issue a single statement" neither "on the human rights violations of the Hamas regime against the Palestinians" nor against the Palestinian Authority or Hamas “for their serious and systematic violations of freedom of religion, children's rights, women's rights and LGBTQ rights”. Just as he "has not issued a single statement dedicated to criticizing the Palestinian Authority or Hamas for launching thousands of rockets against Israeli civilians, for terrorism against Jews or for anti-Semitic incitement."
ALBANESE'S REPLY ON X
2/4 My husband was NEVER hired and NEVER paid by the Palestinian Authority. In 2011 he was a UNDP consultant in support of strengthening the capacities of the Palestinian Ministry of Economy (5 months). But then we are in the Middle Ages where the wife is responsible for what her husband does?
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) November 9, 2023
4/4 As for me, I concluded my legal practice on 12/30/04.
Now can we go back to dealing with the massacres in Gaza, the army bombings in Jenin, the raids and abuses of armed settlers in the West Bank?
Unless you want to check out what I did in kindergarten.
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) November 9, 2023
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/albanese-dellonu-fa-lindiana-su-israele-e-hamas/ on Thu, 09 Nov 2023 06:58:47 +0000.