The United Nations Human Rights Council lived up to its reputation Friday by cutting off a speaker mid-statement after she began criticizing its own officials — including one already sanctioned by the United States. Apparently, “interactive dialogue” only works when no one says anything uncomfortable.
The video message was delivered by Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and president of Human Rights. During her allotted 90 seconds at a session in Geneva, she named several U.N. officials, including High Commissioner Volker Türk and special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has been sanctioned by the Trump administration.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions against Albanese on July 9, 2025, citing what he described as “unabashed antisemitism,” support for terrorism, and contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West. He also said her record included recommending that the International Criminal Court issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant without legitimate basis.
Bayefsky said she was the only American U.N.-accredited NGO given a speaking slot and was not even allowed to finish her brief statement. She called out Albanese, Navi Pillay, and Chris Sidoti for allegedly covering up Palestinian use of rape as a weapon of war and for spreading antisemitism. She also named Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor who has denied sexual assault allegations against him.
Had her statement been allowed to continue, Bayefsky would have criticized Türk’s recent report for failing to demand accountability for what she described as a Palestinian policy of paying for the killing of Jews, including Hamas terror boss Yahya Sinwar, whom she said received hundreds of thousands of dollars in “blood money.”
Instead, Human Rights Council President Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro shut it down, calling her remarks “derogatory, insulting and inflammatory” and saying they exceeded the limits of tolerance and respect. Translation: naming names is now a violation of human rights — at the Human Rights Council.
Bayefsky responded that being silenced for criticizing powerful officials proves free speech does not exist inside the council’s chambers. And judging by how fast they hit the mute button, she may have struck a nerve.
The good news? Truth clearly still matters enough to scare the right people. And every time censorship shows its face, it reminds us exactly why real accountability — not scripted speeches — is worth fighting for.
