Over 150 ex-officials denounce French FM for ‘spreading disinformation’ about UN’s Albanese

More than 150 former ministers and diplomats have denounced France’s foreign minister for “spreading disinformation” about UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and urged him to correct his remarks.

In an open letter, the signatories criticized French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot for relying on “manipulated” material to attack Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“In an era of escalating global disinformation, it is deeply concerning that the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noel Barrot, has relied upon and amplified manipulated content in remarks concerning Ms. Francesca Albanese,” the letter said.

The controversy erupted after Barrot called last week for Albanese’s resignation over comments she allegedly made about Israel during a conference on Gaza.

Barrot’s criticism, which was later mirrored by other countries such as Germany, has been based on a “digitally distorted version” of her speech, the letter pointed out.  

The former officials warned that when a senior official repeats disputed or manipulated content, it raises “serious concerns” about verification standards and the protection of independent UN mandate holders.

“This issue extends beyond any individual mandate-holder. It raises broader concerns about the integrity of multilateral institutions and the responsibility of Member States to ensure that UN experts can carry out their mandates free from political interference or disinformation,” the letter said.

The signatories stressed that disinformation erodes trust in multilateral bodies and deepens divisions among member states. They added that public officials carry a “heightened responsibility” to verify information and exercise restraint when addressing UN experts.

They also cautioned that the dispute should not distract from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where more than two years of Israeli genocidal war has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and destroyed large swaths of the besieged Palestinian territory.

“This controversy must not divert attention from the mass killing of civilians and the catastrophic humanitarian and human rights crisis in Gaza. Leaders have a collective responsibility under international law to protect civilians, prevent further atrocities, and ensure accountability,” the letter said.

The group called on the Foreign Ministry to retract and correct inaccurate statements about Albanese. They also urged Paris to reaffirm its commitment to the independence of UN mandate holders.

The dispute centers on a video address Albanese delivered at the Al Jazeera Media Forum in Doha in early February. In her speech, she said “international law has been stabbed in the heart,” and added that “we now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy.”

The Israeli regime and its supporters claimed that the phrase “common enemy” referred to the regime. A shortened version of the video circulated online before Barrot raised the issue in parliament.

Albanese rejected that interpretation. She later posted the full speech and clarified: “The common enemy of humanity is THE SYSTEM that has enabled the genocide in Palestine,” as well as “the financial capital that funds it, the algorithms that obscure it and the weapons that enable it.”

Subsequent analysis indicated that the clip cited by Barrot had been edited using cuts and artificial intelligence tools.

The altered video was widely shared by UN Watch, a pro-Israel advocacy group that says it combats “anti-Israel prejudice at the UN” and has campaigned to sanction Albanese and defund the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Earlier this month, Washington imposed “terrorist-grade sanctions” on Albanese and staff at the International Criminal Court after she said major US technology firms are complicit in the genocide in Gaza.

The UN condemned the move as unlawful and warned that targeting officials involved in war crimes investigations could undermine the international human rights system.

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