 |
Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs |
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967
About the mandate
The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to follow and report on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The task of the Special Rapporteur is to assess the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, report publicly about it, and work with governments, civil society and others to foster international cooperation. The Special Rapporteur undertakes regular visits or missions to the Occupied Palestinian Territory and reports annually to the Human Rights Council. OHCHR provides the mandate holder with logistical and technical assistance.
The mandate of the Special Rapporteur derives from the 1993 resolution from the Committee of Human Rights. The mandate calls on the Special Rapporteur:
- To investigate Israel's violations of the principles and bases of international law, international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967;
- To receive communications, to hear witnesses, and to use such modalities of procedure as he may deem necessary for his mandate; and
- To report, with his conclusions and recommendations, to the Commission on Human Rights at its future sessions, until the end of the Israeli occupation of those territories.
 |
| Francesca Albanese speaks during the gala of the Publico 2025 Awards in Madrid on June 25, 2025. Photo By Matias Chiofalo/Europa Press via Getty Images |
Top Economists Back Francesca Albanese's Report on the 'Economy of Genocide' in Gaza
Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, French economist Thomas Piketty, and others join open letter supporting Albanese amid US calls to remove her as the UN special rapporteur on Palestine.
Last week, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese made headlines across the world for exposing the dozens of companies that she says have profited from Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Albanese’s UN report, ‘From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide,’ goes beyond just the typical weapons-manufacturing culprits, and calls out financial institutions, educational institutions, and Big Tech companies, including Alphabet Inc. (Google), Amazon, IBM, Palantir, as well as many, many others.
In response, the US Mission to the UN renewed its calls for the UN secretary-general to condemn Albanese and remove her as special rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Now, world-leading economists, including former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, French economist Thomas Piketty, and Lebanese-American statistician and essayist Nassim Nicholas Taleb, are praising Albanese for her report.
Zeteo has obtained an exclusive English copy of the economists’ open letter on Albanese’s report, in which they accuse corporations of “maintaining the Apartheid regime and enabling the subsequent genocide.” Read the full letter below.
ECONOMISTS IN PRAISE OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FRANCESCA ALBANESE’S REPORT TO THE UNITED NATIONS: ‘FROM ECONOMY OF OCCUPATION TO ECONOMY OF GENOCIDE’
History teaches us that economic interests have been key drivers and enablers of colonial enterprises and often of the genocides they perpetrated. The corporate sector has been intrinsic to colonialism since its inception, with corporations historically contributing to the violence against, the exploitation, and ultimately the dispossession, of Indigenous people and lands, a mode of domination known as racial colonial capitalism. Israel’s colonisation of the occupied Palestinian territories is no exception.
The recent report by Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, constitutes a major contribution to understanding the political economy of Israel’s Apartheid state, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and, now, their genocide. As such, we believe, it must be studied and debated widely and freely.
In view of the virulently hostile and indeed intimidating letter from the US government to the UN Secretary General demanding the dismissal of Ms Albanese and the quashing of her excellent report, we felt the need to express our strong support for Ms Albanese and to encourage the UN to dismiss the shrill demands of the US and Israeli governments.
Following a well-trodden path of genocide denial and of bullying anyone who challenges the right of the colonial power to dispossess Indigenous peoples, the US and Israeli governments, with most European governments too timid to take a stance, demand that the international community turn a blind eye to the ongoing genocide and, in particular, to the key role that multinational and national corporations are playing in maintaining the Apartheid regime and enabling the subsequent genocide.
As economists we feel the duty to highlight three key findings that Ms Albanese’s report unveils with clarity and precision.
First, occupation and genocide are highly lucrative for conglomerates.... READ MORE
