A United Nations watchdog has called for an immediate probe into alleged ethical abuses by United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who “illegally” requested payments for work done in her official capacity.
The complaint states that Ms. Albanese, who serves as the Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, is prohibited from receiving remuneration “for activities carried out in pursuit of his/her mandate” under the U.N. Code of Conduct.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, alleged that Ms. Albanese circumvented the prohibition on accepting remuneration by directing “honorariums” to be paid to her research assistant.
“This is on top of Ms. Albanese’s disgraceful statements and actions that promote antisemitism and terrorism, for which you should condemn her and call for her removal,” the complaint reads.
The complaint cited correspondence, which it said was “confirmed by Ms. Albanese’s office,” indicating that her assistant requested that an event organizer pay an “honorarium” for Ms. Albanese to speak to student protesters at Columbia University on May 7.
In the email, her assistant stated that Ms. Albanese cannot accept an honorarium “for anything she does in her official capacity” and “kindly” requested that it be transferred to “the Fellowship of her volunteer” that supports her work and mandate, adding that an unnamed “research institute” will issue the invoice.
Another colleague named Sara Troian later claimed that the request came from her, not Ms. Albanese, contrary to what was stated in the correspondence from her assistant to the event organizer.
‘Sponsored’ Australia, New Zealand Trip
UN Watch also requested an investigation into Ms. Albanese’s financial practices relating to her November 2023 trip to Australia and New Zealand, which included multiple flights to states in both nations and was estimated to cost $22,500.“Evidence indicates that Ms. Albanese, directly or indirectly via Sara Troian and the unnamed institute, either improperly accepted a significant remuneration [from] pro-Palestinian lobby groups to cover all or part of these expenses, in gross and material breach of the Code of Conduct, or improperly arranged for the UN to pay for her trip across the world, accompanied by at least one assistant, to a country that has no connection whatsoever with Ms. Albanese’s specific mandate to investigate human rights in the Palestinian territories, in a trip that involved no investigating whatsoever,” it stated.
The Australian Friends of Palestine Association stated on its website that it “sponsored” Ms. Albanese’s visit to Australia. Other organizations—including Free Palestine Melbourne, the Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network, and Palestinian Christians in Australia—said they “supported” her trip.
According to the complaint, her trip to New Zealand was organized by the Palestinians in Aotearoa Coordinating Committee and Palestine Solidarity Network, who arranged for Ms. Albanese “to lobby a major New Zealand sovereign wealth fund to divest from Israel-related companies.”
Mr. Neuer requested that the U.N. explain how the Palestinian lobby groups in Australia supported Ms. Albanese’s trip, produce receipts and documentation of all related expenses, and provide copies of any notes detailing meetings Ms. Albanese and her entourage had during the trip.
He said it would constitute “a gross breach” of U.N. rules and procedures if the agency funded all or part of Ms. Albanese’s trip to Australia, as U.N. funds are intended to cover only official country missions.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the U.N. for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
