Amnesty International is to give its “highest honour” to a UN envoy who said the Oct 7 victims had been killed “in response to Israel’s oppression”.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories, will receive the Ambassador of Conscience award at a “highly confidential” ceremony in Paris on Dec 7, leaked correspondence has shown.
The 240-seat event, at which Javier Bardem, an Oscar-winning actor, will also be honoured, will be private for “security reasons”, according to an email seen by The Telegraph. Amnesty plans to use it to court donors.
Ms Albanese made her comments about the Oct 7 atrocities in 2024, when she disputed Emmanuel Macron’s description of the attack as the “greatest anti-Semitic massacre of our century”.
She wrote on X: “The victims of Oct 7 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression. France and the international community did nothing to prevent it. My respects to the victims.”
France and Germany condemned the post. Ms Albanese said she had repeatedly condemned Hamas’s crimes and that she rejected anti-Semitism, calling it “a global threat”.
News of the award has angered human rights campaigners, politicians and bereaved families. Adam Ma’anit, a British-Israeli man whose relatives were killed in the Hamas massacre, said it had made him “sick to my stomach”.
“After Hamas terrorists shot my cousin Tsachi’s daughter in the head, one said to her little sister that she was ‘with her God now’. Religion was most certainly on the minds of her murderers.
“My family were targeted because they were Jews living in their ancestral homeland. Amnesty honouring someone who justified their slaughter makes me sick to my stomach. This perverse ceremony needs to be stopped.”
Ms Albanese on a Facebook post in 2014, before her UN appointment, described the US as having been “subjugated by the Jewish lobby”. She separately said that the BBC had the “Israeli lobby” in its “veins and system”.
This year’s recipients will be recognised for having “spoken out about the genocide in Gaza”, she added.
Ms Brigot said the ceremony would “generate more support for Amnesty, notably by reaching out to numbers of major donors or people who could become so”. She urged national directors to attend and to “work on bringing with you one or two of your major donors to secure support for our collective work”.
Amnesty has drawn criticism from governments and divided its own ranks in recent years. In 2022, its Ukraine chief resigned after the NGO accused Ukrainian troops of endangering civilians during Russia’s invasion.
Leaked documents have revealed concerns within Amnesty that “increasing hostility” towards the organisation was a major threat to its ability to operate.
A confidential risk assessment warned that the NGO could be forced to “reduce, alter, or worst – withdraw its physical presence” from some countries.
An Amnesty International spokesman said: “Amnesty International supports the independent work of UN special procedures, including the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese.
“We stand with all those who face threats, intimidation, smear campaigns or unfounded attacks for documenting human-rights violations, seeking justice for victims, and working to prevent and end atrocity crimes.
“Attempts to discredit or silence those carrying out legitimate human-rights work undermine accountability and the protection of human rights.
“Amnesty International takes allegations of anti-Semitism very seriously. Anti-Semitism is antithetical to human rights and has no place within our organisation.
“We remain committed to ensuring that our movement’s culture, language and practices consistently reflect our human-rights principles.
“Regarding the question about Amnesty’s Ambassador of Conscience award, we are only able to comment on events that have been formally communicated through Amnesty’s official channels.”
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