INTERVIEW – 'You cannot silence the truth in the face of a genocide': UN Special Rapporteur Albanese remains outspoken despite sanctions, threats

By Burak Bir and Zuhal Demirci

LONDON (AA) - UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said that despite US sanctions and growing pressure on her, she will not stop speaking up against the atrocities in Palestine, declaring: "You cannot silence the truth in the face of a genocide."

More than five months have passed since the US passed controversial sanctions on Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.

As a result, she is banned from traveling to the US, and any property or other assets she has in the country or its banks can be frozen.

But Albanese has refused to let this silence her ongoing efforts to speak up against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

In an interview with Anadolu in London, she said the pressure on her has grown "more and more intense," adding that she has faced "spurious accusations of antisemitism, spurious accusations of supporting terrorism."

The 48-year-old Italian legal scholar and expert on human rights said those false accusations found fertile ground in the "hypocrisy of many Western countries and Western people."

"They have become more and more vicious with personal threats and physical threats, and then the sanctions are a combination of it," she said.

But she said this “does not silence me, because you cannot silence the truth in the face of a genocide."

Albanese said she believes it is just matter of time before "this injustice ends sooner or later."

"It will not last forever. That's why we need more people standing against it," she added.

UN experts in August warned that US sanctions on Albanese threaten the human rights system, a month after the US announced it had imposed sanctions on the special rapporteur for her "efforts to prompt" International Criminal Court (ICC) action against US and Israeli officials.

In August, the US also sanctioned four ICC officials for authorizing the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, warrants which accuse both officials of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Albanese also pointed to the importance of accountability and the need for robust action to hold those responsible for the Gaza genocide accountable.

Noting that British, French, Italian, Belgian, and even Tunisian citizens have been fighting in the Israeli army during its attacks on Gaza, she said this is why it is critical that there is accountability at the local level of government officials, businesses, and individuals who have been complicit in crimes or committing crimes.

"They should be held accountable. They should be considered suspects," she added.

- 'Israel shouldn't sit as any other member states in UN General Assembly'

Asked about several European countries boycotting Eurovision 2026 in protest of allowing Israeli participation despite the genocide, Albanese voiced astonishment that it is only at the level of entertainment that Israel is being excluded, rather than in diplomatic settings.

"It's incredible that Eurovision is the first place, like public gathering, where Israel is effectively being boycotted by countries standing up and moving out," she said.

“This should have happened in the UN General Assembly. Israel shouldn't sit as any other member states in the UN General Assembly right now. Its membership should be suspended."

Albanese explained that this is not because Israel is the only state which is committing crimes or committing human rights abuses, but rather because it has done so "relentlessly."

Following confirmation in early December that Israel would again compete in the annual song contest, broadcasters in five countries – Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain – announced they would withdraw from the 2026 Eurovision.

Noting that Israel is already facing two international tribunals, the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice, Albanese said people should keep up the pressure.

"Popular action, principled mobilization of member states, this will be infectious, and I hope will bring sooner, as soon as possible, to the end of Israel's crimes," she explained.

South Africa filed a case with the International Court of Justice in December 2023 accusing Israel of acts of genocide in Gaza. Several countries have since joined the proceedings, including Spain, Ireland, Libya, Mexico, Belgium, and Türkiye.

The ICJ has since issued three provisional measures ordering Israel to prevent genocidal acts and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Separately, in November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, where more than 70,000 people have been killed – most of them women and children – and over 170,000 others injured in a brutal offensive since October 2023, an assault that has continued even since the start of a truce this October.