The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) confirmed to the independent organization U.N. Watch, the group confirmed on Tuesday, that it is taking “appropriate action” in response to allegations “Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories” Francesca Albanese illicitly took money from pro-Hamas groups.
U.N. Watch filed a legal complaint in June against Albanese through the U.N. system presenting evidence that pro-Hamas groups may have paid Albanese to make appearances during a tour she took of Australia and New Zealand in the early months following Hamas’s siege of Israel on October 7. At least one such group, the the Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA), reportedly claimed to have “sponsored” Albanese’s visit to the country in December, according to U.N. Watch. Other organizations described Albanese as a “guest” of the group.
The AFOPA published photos of its leaders with Albanese in Australia in December and commended her efforts in opposing Israel’s right to self-defense following the rape, murder, and torture spree by Hamas terrorists in October.
The AFOPA has previously referred to Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization explicitly opposing the existence of Israel and Jews generally, as a “bona fide resistance group,” urging the Australian Parliament to not recognize the group as a terrorist organization.
