UN chief Guterres did not single out Albanese as “out of control,” fact-check shows

Pro‑Israel advocacy organization UN Watch claimed that United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres had singled out Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, describing her as “out of control” and recalling a previous remark that she was a “horrible woman.” The allegation was based on a transcript of Guterres’s remarks in which he said that “many” independent rapporteurs were “totally out of control,” without naming any specific individual.

The United Nations has responded that the UN Watch interpretation misreads the Secretary‑General’s comments, noting that no person was identified in the statement. A fact‑check by Vedika Bahl confirms that Guterres’s remarks were generic and that the link to Albanese is unfounded, underscoring that the claim stems from a mischaracterisation rather than an explicit criticism of the rapporteur.