PRESS RELEASE – February 12, 2026, Paris
The Association of Jurists for the Respect of International Law (JURDI) expresses its deep concern regarding the public statements made by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Noël Barrot, calling for the resignation of Ms. Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. These statements, which constitute a serious breach of the principle of the independence of UN mechanisms and raise the issue of the dissemination of manifestly inaccurate information by public authorities, have led JURDI to file a report today with the Public Prosecutor of Paris concerning actions that may constitute the offense stipulated by law regarding the dissemination of false news, in light of the statements fraudulently attributed to Ms. Francesca Albanese.
On February 11, 2026, in response to a question from Ms. Caroline Yadan, Member of Parliament for French citizens living abroad — who had, a few days earlier on the social network X, distorted the remarks of the Special Rapporteur and publicly likened them to "anti-Semitic" remarks — the Minister declared before the National Assembly:
«France condemns without reservation the outrageous and reprehensible remarks of Ms. Francesca Albanese, which target not the Israeli government (…) but Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable (…) She is a political activist who stirs up hate speech (…) Under no circumstances and in no way can Ms. Albanese speak on their behalf, and she betrays their spirit.»
He also announced that France would request his resignation at the Human Rights Council session on February 23, 2026.
However, during her intervention on December 7, 2025 at the public forum organized on the situation in Palestine, as in her other interventions, Ms. Albanese spoke exclusively within the framework of her UN mandate, with reference to her reports entitled «"From an economy of occupation to an economy of genocide"» And «"The genocide in Gaza: a collective crime"». She stated, in particular:
«This is not the first genocide in human history (…) but it is the first to awaken a global conscience (…) Palestine allows us to see what connects all injustices — what is happening in Yemen, Sudan, Congo — including in places where poverty has not been so entrenched for a long time, including in the West. We have a common enemy and we must confront it: a system in which politics serves economic interests.»
More recently, at the 17th Al Jazeera Forum held in Doha, February 7–9, 2026, dedicated to the geopolitical balances surrounding the situation in Palestine, Ms. Albanese stated:
[…]«We have spent the last two years examining the planning and execution of genocide. And the genocide is not over (…) Genocide, as the intentional destruction of a group as such, is now clearly exposed.»
[…]«The fact that instead of stopping Israel, most of the world armed it, provided it with political excuses, political support, and economic and financial backing, constitutes a challenge (…) If international law has been stabbed in the heart, we now understand that as humanity, we have a common enemy.»
«We must stand up. We must do what is right (…) We must act. And the time has come (…) for a full commitment to responsibility and justice.»
These statements, which are publicly available in their entirety and easily verifiable, stem from a legal and structural analysis of serious violations of international law, directly related to the functions of the Special Rapporteur entrusted to Ms. Albanese by the United Nations Human Rights Council. They are not directed at a people or a nation, but at political, economic, and legal systems, in accordance with the standards of international law.
However, partial excerpts of this intervention were disseminated on social media on February 8, 2026, by the organization UN Watch, headed by Mr. Hillel Neuer, in a truncated form that failed to provide the context or the full text of the remarks made. This partial version was subsequently shared by several public figures, including Ms. Caroline Yadan, contributing to a distorted interpretation of the Special Rapporteur's statements. It is in this context that the parliamentary question of February 11, 2026, was raised, and that the Minister publicly repeated a manifestly inaccurate presentation of Ms. Albanese's remarks.
By publicly presenting these remarks as hate speech or as targeting «Israel as a people and as a nation,» the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs has clearly distorted their content. Such a presentation, emanating from a public authority and disseminated within an institutional framework, is likely to constitute the spread of fake news, insofar as it attributes to a UN expert statements that she neither made nor endorsed.
Under international law, mandate holders under the Special Procedures exercise their functions with complete independence. In accordance with Article 105 of the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention of 13 February 1946 on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, they are protected for statements made in the performance of their duties. A public demand by a Member State for the resignation of a Special Rapporteur therefore constitutes political pressure incompatible with this requirement of independence.
This move comes amid unprecedented attacks on international mechanisms tasked with documenting violations committed in Palestine, including the particularly severe sanctions imposed by the United States against Ms. Albanese and members of the International Criminal Court, including a French judge, simply because of the exercise of their functions.
This is all the more worrying given that France, bound by positive obligations regarding the prevention and prosecution of international crimes, has to date adopted no concrete measures aimed at preventing these crimes, stopping their commission, or fully cooperating with the execution of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court. The renewed authorization for the Israeli Prime Minister's plane, despite being the subject of an arrest warrant, to fly over French territory on the very day of the Foreign Minister's intervention, illustrates this deficiency.
JURDI considers that by requesting the resignation of a UN expert for the exercise of functions protected by international law, by disseminating a manifestly inaccurate presentation of her remarks and by simultaneously failing to respect its own international obligations in matters of prevention, repression of genocide and judicial cooperation, France seriously compromises the coherence, credibility and authority of its commitment to international law and multilateralism.
Furthermore, by publicly attributing to the Special Rapporteur statements that she did not make, including equating them with hate speech and anti-Semitism, France is contributing to exposing Ms. Albanese to increased risks of attacks, threats and pressure, thereby endangering the person of an independent expert, which is incompatible with the obligations of United Nations Member States to guarantee the safety and integrity of persons carrying out international functions.
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