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Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (May21/08) Geneva, 21 May (Kanaga Raja) – The UN Human Rights Council is to hold a special session on 27 May on “the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem.” The special session is being convened following an official request submitted jointly on 19 May by Pakistan, on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the State of Palestine. The request has so far been supported by 20 of the 47 member states of the Human Rights Council: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Gabon, Indonesia, Libya, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela. The request has also been supported by 43 observer states to the Human Rights Council: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Benin, Brunei Darussalam, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the State of Palestine. SURGE IN “DEADLY” VIOLENCE IN OPT On 20 May, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking at a UN General Assembly meeting in New York on the situation in the Middle East and Palestine, said: “The past ten days have witnessed a dangerous and horrific surge in deadly violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly Gaza, and in Israel.” “I am deeply shocked by the continued air and artillery bombardment by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza. As of 19 May, this had claimed the lives of at least 208 Palestinians, including 60 children, and injured thousands more,” he added. He said that the continued indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hamas and other militant groups towards population centres in Israel, resulting in at least 12 fatalities including two children, and hundreds of injuries, “is also unacceptable.” “The fighting must stop immediately,” said the Secretary-General, appealing to all parties to cease hostilities. He also reiterated his call on all sides for an immediate ceasefire. “The hostilities have caused serious damage to vital civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including roads and electricity lines, contributing to a humanitarian emergency. Crossings into Gaza have been closed and power shortages are affecting water supplies,” Mr Guterres noted. Hundreds of buildings and homes have been destroyed, damaged, or rendered uninhabitable, he said, adding that air strikes have damaged several hospitals, which were already short of supplies due to years of debilitating closures exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The UN chief also said the fighting has left thousands of Palestinians homeless, and forced over fifty thousand people to leave their homes and seek shelter in UNRWA schools, mosques, and other places with little access to water, food, hygiene or health services. “If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza today,” said the Secretary-General. He said that he was deeply distressed by damage to United Nations facilities in Gaza, pointing out that United Nations premises “are inviolable, including during armed conflict. Humanitarian installations must be respected and protected.” “Even wars have rules. First and foremost, civilians must be protected. Indiscriminate attacks, and attacks against civilians and civilian property, are violations of the laws of war,” he added. “So are attacks against military objectives that cause disproportionate loss of civilian life and injury to civilians.” The Secretary-General said there is no justification, including counter-terrorism or self-defence, for the abdication by the parties to the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law. He urged the Israeli authorities to abide by the laws governing armed conflict, including the proportionate use of force, and called on them to exercise maximum restraint in the conduct of military operations. “I likewise urge Hamas and other militant groups to stop the indiscriminate launching of rockets and mortars from highly populated civilian neighbourhoods into civilian population centres in Israel, also in clear violation of international humanitarian law. Densely populated civilian areas must not be used for military purposes,” said Mr Guterres. “But above all, what we must – and I am repeating my appeal – what we must achieve is an immediate ceasefire.” Mr Guterres said he is also deeply concerned by the continuation of violent clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where several Palestinian families are under the threat of eviction. The Secretary-General also urged Israel to cease demolitions and evictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in line with its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law. “All settlement activities, including evictions and demolitions, are illegal under international law,” he said. He called on all members of the international community to do everything in their power to enable the parties to conflict to step back from the brink. “These horrific events did not arise in isolation. They must be viewed in the context of decades of military occupation, political deadlock, grievances and hopelessness, and a failure to address the core issues at the heart of the conflict,” he said. “A revitalized peace process is the only route to a just and lasting solution,” the Secretary-General underlined. Meanwhile, following the subsequent announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, the UN chief welcomed the ceasefire between Gaza and Israel, after 11 days of deadly hostilities. At a press stakeout at UN Headquarters in New York, he commended Egypt and Qatar for the efforts carried out, in close coordination with the UN, to help restore calm to Gaza and Israel, and called on all sides to observe the ceasefire. The Secretary-General also appealed to the international community to work with the United Nations on developing “an integrated, robust package of support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery that supports the Palestinian people and strengthens their institutions.” He stressed that Israeli and Palestinian leaders have a responsibility beyond the restoration of calm to start a serious dialogue to address the root causes of the conflict. “Gaza is an integral part of the future Palestinian state and no effort should be spared to bring about real national reconciliation that ends the division,” he said. The UN chief underscored “the United Nations’ deep commitment to working with Israelis and Palestinians, and with our international and regional partners, including through the Middle East Quartet, to return to the path of meaningful negotiations to end the occupation and allow for the realization of a two-State solution on the basis of the 1967 lines, UN resolutions, international law and mutual agreements.” UN EXPERTS CALL FOR END TO VIOLENCE IN GAZA & ISRAEL Earlier on 18 May, a group of UN human rights experts called for an immediate end to the violence in Gaza and Israel. In a UN news release, the experts said: “This most recent violence has a depressingly familiar pattern to it.” “Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza exchange missiles and rockets following dispossession and the denial of rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, with Israel’s far greater firepower inflicting far higher death tolls and injuries and a much larger scale of property destruction,” they added. The UN experts include Mr. Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967; Mr. Clement Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Ms Fionnuala Ni Aolain, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism; and Ms Koumbou Boly Barry, Special Rapporteur on the right to education. The experts noted that as of 17 May, at least 211 Palestinians in Gaza, including at least 59 children, have been killed, along with 10 Israelis, including two children, and at least 10 Palestinians in the West Bank protesting the violence in Gaza have also been killed by Israeli security forces. Almost 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their home, sheltering in UN compounds. The UN experts said, “The firing by Israel of missiles and shells into heavily populated areas of Gaza – particularly with the rising civilian toll and property destruction – constitute indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against civilians and civilian property. These attacks likely violate the laws of war and constitute a war crime.” “Similarly, the firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups, deliberately or recklessly, into Israeli urban areas likely violate international law and may well amount to a war crime. Armed groups in Gaza should also be held to account in their failure to take adequate precautions to protect the civilian population and civilian objects under their control against the effects of attacks,” they added. “Both sides must strictly adhere to their responsibilities under international law, especially that of proportionality and necessity,” said the experts. “There is no justification, including counter-terrorism or self-defence, to justify a wholesale abdication for the obligations of Parties to strictly obey international humanitarian law. The actions of both Israel and the Palestinian armed groups should be a matter for the International Criminal Court to investigate.” The experts condemned the Israeli attack on a civilian apartment building which housed the offices of several international news agencies, saying that: “Violence or threatened violence against journalists, particularly those reporting in a conflict zone, breaches the freedom of expression and the right of the media to report unhindered.” Pointing out that Gaza has been under a comprehensive 14-year-old blockade by Israel, the experts said: “The world should be deeply concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza.” “Most alarmingly, its health care system is flat on its back. It has been starved of equipment, medicines and trained staff. It is buckling under the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. And now, it is trying to treat the more than 2,000 Palestinians injured during this latest violence,” they added. “The underlying reality is that there is an occupying power, with one of the best equipped militaries in the world, ruling over an occupied people who have the right to be freed from an unwanted and protracted alien regime,” the UN experts said. “This struggle is deeply unequal. The 54-year-old Israeli occupation – already the longest occupation in the modern world – is becoming even more entrenched and even more abusive of fundamental human rights,” they added. “After the last missile of this current violence has been fired, and after the tears from the last funeral have been shed, accountability must rise to the top of the agenda of the United Nations,” the experts said. “The international community must ensure that Israel, the occupying power, complies fully with the more than 30 UN Security Council resolutions and the hundreds of General Assembly resolutions of which it is in breach.” “A brand new diplomatic play-book is needed, which leaves behind realpolitik. A rights-based approach must guide the diplomacy of the international community to secure a just and durable solution,” the experts concluded. Meanwhile, in welcoming the announcement on the Human Rights Council special session on the situation in the OPT, Kevin Whelan, Amnesty International’s representative to the UN in Geneva, said: “Within a matter of weeks, the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories has escalated from a crackdown by Israeli forces against peaceful Palestinian demonstrators in East Jerusalem to a full-scale armed conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.” “As the death toll continues to mount – with more than 230 killed in Gaza and 12 killed in Israel – it is vital that the perpetrators of human rights violations, including unlawful attacks and crimes under international law are not permitted to commit abuses unchecked,” he said in a statement. “A UN Human Rights Council special session can help to ensure accountability for violations even in the case of a ceasefire and after an end to the current hostilities. It must address possible war crimes in Gaza, including deadly attacks on Palestinian homes and deliberate destruction of civilian property, as well as the indiscriminate rocket fire from Palestinian armed groups into Israeli population centres.” “The Human Rights Council should use a special session to establish an investigative mechanism that can collect and preserve evidence of crimes and violations, that would support and coordinate with the ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court. Together, these institutions must do everything in their power to break the decades-long cycle of impunity that pervades the crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” said Whelan.
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