UN says threats against its officials ‘unacceptable’
The UN says it rejects any threats made against Special Rapporteur Francesa Albanese.
Earlier this week, an online campaign targeted her using doctored video to manipulate comments she made during the Al Jazeera forum in Doha.
“UN officials across the board face increasingly personal attacks, whether online or in real life, and that remains a concern, and in that sense, we, of course, share the concern of the high commissioner’s office,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said.
“People can disagree, people can criticise, but threats are unacceptable on any target.”
Albanese ‘must be protected’
UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese “must be protected” amid calls for her resignation from Czechia, France and Germany, Patrick Zahnd, president of the Lawyers for the Respect of International Law, tells Al Jazeera.
“She’s an independent expert elected by the Human Rights Council, and she has to be protected”, he said.
Instead, she is actually being sanctioned, he said. “We are in a situation where representatives of the special procedures of the human rights council are under attack and have been under attack for quite some time”.
He said this includes sanctions against judges at the International Criminal Court.
He said threats and intimidation against such figures have been commonplace in the past, but “what is very strange is that now the very European states and the US are using such pressure, intimidation and threats against such a person, who must be protected”.
Rights advocates say Palestinian Leqaa Kordia’s ICE detention ‘intentional’
Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman, has been detained in the United States by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency since March 2025. Kordia is being held in Texas after being detained as part of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the country.
Sadaf Hasan, a staff attorney at rights group Muslim Advocates, says authorities are using “extraordinary lengths” and “procedural legal loopholes” to ensure Kordia remains detained.
“It’s clear that she’s in confinement because the administration dislikes her views on Palestine, but also because she is Palestinian,” Hasan told Al Jazeera.
She argues that Kordia’s continued detention, despite repeated judicial findings in her favour, is intended to send a “chilling message” about the costs of protesting for Palestine in the US and to “squash free speech and organising on Palestine”.
“Why she’s still confined nearly a year later is to send a message. It’s political. It’s intentional,” Hasan added.
