UN Human Rights Council chief cuts off speaker criticizing US-sanctioned official

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) abruptly cut off a video statement after the speaker began criticizing several United Nations officials, including one who has been sanctioned by the Trump administration. The video message was being played during a U.N. session in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday morning.

Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust Director and Human Rights Voices President Anne Bayefsky called out several U.N. officials in her message, including U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who is the subject of U.S. sanctions.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions against Albanese on July 9, 2025, saying that she "has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel and the West."

"That bias has been apparent across the span of her career, including recommending that the ICC, without a legitimate basis, issue arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant," Rubio added.

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"I was the only American U.N.-accredited NGO with a speaking slot – and I wasn’t allowed even to conclude my 90 seconds of allotted time. Free speech is non-existent at the U.N. so-called 'Human Rights Council,'" Bayefsky told Fox News Digital.

Bayefsky noted the irony of the council cutting off her video in a proceeding that was said to be an "Interactive Dialogue," an event during which experts are allowed to speak to the council about human rights issues.

"I was cut off after naming Francesca Albanese, Navi Pillay and Chris Sidoti for covering up Palestinian use of rape as a weapon of war and trafficking in blatant antisemitism. I named the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, who is facing disturbing sexual assault allegations but still unaccountable almost two years later. Those are the people and the facts that the United Nations wants to protect and hide," Bayefsky told Fox News Digital.

"It is an outrage that I am silenced and singled out for criticism on the basis of naming names," she said.

Bayefsky's statement was cut off as she accused Albanese, as well as Navi Pillay, the former chair of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Chris Sidoti, a commissioner of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She also slammed ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, who has faced rape allegations. Khan has rejected the sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Had her video message been played in full, Bayefsky would have gone on to criticize Türk's recent report for not demanding accountability for the atrocities committed by Hams on Oct. 7, 2023.

When the video was cut short, Human Rights Council President Ambassador Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro characterized Bayefsky's remarks as "derogatory, insulting and inflammatory" and said that they were "not acceptable."

"The language used by the speaker cannot be allowed as it has exceeded the limits of tolerance and respect within the framework of the council which we all in this room hold to," Suryodipuro said.

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In response to Fox News Digital's request for comment, Human Rights Council Media Officer Pascal Sim said that the council has had long-established rules on what it considers to be acceptable language.

"Rulings regarding the form and language of interventions in the Human Rights Council are established practices that have been in place throughout the existence of the Council and used by all Council Presidents when it comes to ensuring respect, tolerance and dignity inherent to the discussion of human rights issues," Sim told Fox News Digital.

When asked if the video had been reviewed ahead of time, Sim said that it was assessed for length and audio quality to allow for interpretation, but that the speakers are ultimately "responsible for the content of their statement."

"The video statement by the NGO 'Touro Law Center, The Institute on Human Rights and The Holocaust' was interrupted when it was deemed that the language exceeded the limits of tolerance and respect within the framework of the Council and could not be tolerated," Sim said.

"As the presiding officer explained at the time, all speakers are to remain within the appropriate framework and terminology used in the Council’s work, which is well known by speakers who routinely participate in Council proceedings. Following that ruling, none of the Member States of the Council have objected to it," Sim added.

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While Bayefsky's statement was cut off, other statements accusing Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing were allowed to be played and read in full.

This is not the first time that Bayefsky was interrupted. Exactly one year ago, on Feb. 27, 2025, her video was cut off when she mentioned the fate of Ariel and Kfir Bibas. Then-President of the U.N. Human Rights Council Jürg Lauber stopped the video and declared that Bayefsky had used inappropriate language.

Bayefsky began the speech by saying, "The world now knows Palestinian savages murdered 9-month-old baby Kfir," and is almost immediately cut off by Lauber.

"Sorry, I have to interrupt," Lauber abruptly said as the video of Bayefsky was paused. Lauber briefly objected to the "language" used in the video, but then allowed it to continue. After a few more seconds, the video was shut off entirely. Lauber reiterated that "the language that’s used by the speaker cannot be tolerated," adding that it "exceeds clearly the limits of tolerance and respect."

Last year, when the previous incident occurred, Bayefsky said she believed the whole thing was "stage-managed," as the council had advanced access to her video and a transcript and knew what she would say.