UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese says torture ‘has effectively become state policy’ in Israel. UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese presents her latest report to the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva [Fabrice Coffrini/AFP] A United Nations expert says the world has given Israel a licence to torture Palestinians, with life in the occupied Palestinian territory “a continuum of physical and mental suffering”. Francesca Albanes