UN special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories Richard Falk on the siege of Gaza:
"Gaza: Silence is not an option
9 December 2008
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk, issued the following statement:
GENEVA -- In recent days the desperate plight of the civilian population of Gaza has been acknowledged by such respected international figures as the Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Last week, Karen AbyZayd, who heads the UN relief effort in Gaza, offered first-hand confirmation of the desperate urgency and unacceptable conditions facing the civilian population of Gaza. Although many leaders have commented on the cruelty and unlawfulness of the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel, such a flurry of denunciations by normally cautious UN officials has not occurred on a global level since the heyday of South African apartheid.
And still Israel maintains its Gaza siege in its full fury, allowing only barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave off mass famine and disease. Such a policy of collective punishment, initiated by Israel to punish Gazans for political developments within the Gaza strip, constitutes a continuing flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law as laid down in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
It is long past the time when talk suffices. As AbuZayd has written, "the chasm between word and deed" with respect to upholding human rights in occupied Palestine creates a situation where "radicalism and extremism easily take root." The UN is obligated to respond under these conditions. Some governments of the world are complicit by continuing their support politically and economically for Israel's punitive approach.
Protective action must be taken immediately to offset the persisting and wide-ranging violations of the fundamental human right to life, and in view of the emergency situation that is producing a humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding day by day. However difficult politically, it is time to act. At the very least, an urgent effort should be made at the United Nations to implement the agreed norm of a 'responsibility to protect' a civilian population being collectively punished by policies that amount to a Crime Against Humanity.
In a similar vein, it would seem mandatory for the International Criminal Court to investigate the situation, and determine whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law. As AbuZayd has declared, "This is a humanitarian crisis deliberately imposed by political actors."
It should be noted that the situation worsened in recent days due to the breakdown of a truce between Hamas and Israel that had been observed for several months by both sides. The truce was maintained by Hamas despite the failure of Israel to fulfill its obligation under the agreement to improve the living conditions of the people of Gaza.
The recent upsurge of violence occurred after an Israeli incursion that killed several alleged Palestinian militants within Gaza. It is a criminal violation of international law for elements of Hamas or anyone else to fire rockets at Israeli towns regardless of provocation, but such Palestinian behavior does not legalize Israel's imposition of a collective punishment of a life- and health-threatening character on the people of Gaza, and should not distract the UN or international society from discharging their fundamental moral and legal duty to render protection to the Palestinian people."
The context for the above statement was the UN Human Rights Council's adoption yesterday of 99 recommendations to Israel to help bring its behaviour in line with international law. The recommendations call on Israel to :
- end the occupation of all Palestinian and Arab Territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan
- respect the rights of the Palestinian to self-determination and the establishment of their independent State with Jerusalem as its capital
- fully implement the advisory opinion of the ICJ and dismantle the separation wall;
- end all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular in and around Jerusalem
- immediately cease its military operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to lift the closure it imposed on the Gaza strip
- reopen the passage to and from the Gaza Strip
- halt operations of destruction of houses in East Jerusalem
- take immediate action to ensure that the rights of all detainees were respected
and so forth. They were made as part of the HRC's
Universal Periodic Review, in which the human rights records of all UN Member States are scrutinised every four years.
One of the huge benefits of this process is that a large amount of documentation by UN bodies and human rights organisations detailing states' (in this case Israel's) human rights records is collected and published in one place online. Needless to say I haven't had the time to go through it all yet, but I'll post the links here in meantime.
Here is a run-through of the Human Rights Council's recommendations to Israel; here [.pdf] is a summary of the various UN Committees' and Special Rapporteurs' reports on Israel's observance of human rights and international law; and, perhaps most usefully, here are loads of individual submissions from human rights organisations (Amnesty, HRW, Al-Haq, etc.), with a summary organised by theme (freedom of movement, freedom of religion, and so on) available here [.pdf].
This is the overview page from which you can access all of the above and some other stuff as well, including Israel's national report [.pdf] to the HRC, which completely ignores the occupation. As in, it literally doesn't make a single mention of Palestinians or the occupied territories. It does, however, praise the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) for "contribut[ing] significantly to the protection of human rights in Israel." That's an accurate description, and needless to say ACRI's recent annual review of human rights in Israel paints a rather different picture than that presented in the government's national report, detailing, for example, the "systemic and institutional discrimination" against Arab Israelis "in all aspects of life" and describing the occupation as "reminiscent of apartheid".
You can also watch the discussion (with English translations) between the representatives of Israel and the HRC member states via webcast. The Palestinian delegate understandably expressed "shock" at Israel's presentation while Ireland caused a stir by getting some random guy they found on a beach to fill in for their usual representative. I've transcribed the statement from the British rep. in full because I'm nice like that:
"Thank you, Mr. President. The United Kingdom welcomes the delegation of Israel to Geneva today and their commitment to the Universal Periodic Review. We're grateful for the answers Israel supplied to some of our questions posed in advance. We welcome the further information about Israel's consultations with civil society in preparation for this review and recommend that Israel engages with civil society in the follow-up and implementation. Israel has demonstrated good practice in many human rights areas, including the appointment of a national co-ordinator on the trafficking of persons, legislation to protect the rights of persons with disabilities, progress to promote the rights of same-sex couples, and the banning of corporal punishment thoughout the educational system, and we were grateful that they shared some of this good practice with us today.
However there are also areas of significant human rights concern. We are concerned that Israel's minority Arab population, including Bedouin Arab minorities, suffer from institutional, legal and societal inequality and discrimination. We would like to ask Israel whether minority groups were consulted in the preparation for this review and recommend that Israel ensures that the rights of minorities are fully protected. We are also concerned about the administrative detention of Palestinian prisoners, especially teenagers, in Israeli prison service facilities. We recommend that Israel takes immediate action to ensure all cases are reviewed by a court in accordance with far procedures, and that the rights of detainees, particularly the right to a fair trial and family visitation, are upheld.
Although not mentioned in Israel's national report, the occupied Palestinian territories are also a cause for serious concern. According to reports, in the first half of 2008 Israel has expanded settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at a faster rate than in the previous seven years. This has resulted in serious restrictions on the movements of Palestinians in the oPts and the destruction of homes and appropriation of land. Settlement building is illegal, corrodes trust and should stop.
Mr. President, we are also concerned about restrictions imposed by Israel on the movement of goods and people in the West Bank and Gaza. The restrictions, including on the passage of relief supplies, are having a major impact on the lives of Gazans, ultimately restricting their human rights, including the right to adequate health and education. Finally, Mr. President, we urge Israel to respect its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and to allow the passage and distribution of relief consignments. We would like to ask what steps Israel is taking to address the situation and we recommend that Israel takes action to ensure that Palestinians are able to fully enjoy their economic, social and cultural rights. Thank you, Mr. President."
Nice words. A shame, then, that they're completely contradicted by our actions:
"The European Union's 27 foreign ministers unanimously approved upgrading relations with Israel on Monday, despite vigorous efforts by the Palestinian Authority and Egypt to thwart the move.
The first expression of this decision will be a first-of-its-kind meeting between Israel's prime minister and all the leaders of the EU member states in Brussels this April.
Separately, the ministers decided to shelve a proposed action plan for the peace process in 2009, in response to Israeli pressure."
*** Contact your MP and MEPS, or your Congressional representatives, and tell them to get their act together. ***
Cross-posted at The Heathlander