The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and Al-Haq presented two oral interventions on the situation of human rights in Palestine to the UN Human Rights Council (the Council) today, 23 September 2013. The interventions come as part of the deliberations of the 24th session of the Council, which is currently convened in Geneva and which will continue until 27 September 2013.
Photo by: Paola Daher, CIHRS
In the first intervention, CIHRS and Al-Haq drew the Council’s attention to the case of Palestinian residents in Masafer Yatta in the southern West Bank. 700 residents from Masafer Yatta were forcibly evacuated by the Israeli army in 1999. While they were temporarily allowed to return pending a decision by the Israeli High Court of Justice, their case has remained unsettled and living conditions in the area continue to deteriorate, particularly due to settlement activities. In 2012, the Israeli authorities announced their intention to evacuate 8 of the 12 villages in Masafer Yatta. Although the case was referred to mediation a few weeks ago, CIHRS and Al-Haq remain concerned that some 1,000 Palestinians remain at risk of being forcibly transferred from their homes, stating: “This case is just one example of Israel’s systematic efforts to drive Palestinian communities from their land. These efforts are carried out through persistent policies and practices of land confiscation, settlement expansion, and appropriation of natural resources.”
In a second oral intervention presented to the Council today, CIHRS and Al-Haq also welcomed the report of the Secretary General on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) and east Jerusalem. They particularly called for implementation of the report’s recommendation to the Israeli government to carry out independent, prompt, and effective investigations into all allegations of serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, particularly violations committed by settlers against Palestinian civilians.
The two organizations also welcomed new EU guidelines which require that any Israeli entity which receives EU funding must not be involved in illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories or East Jerusalem. However, they expressed concern at calls by the EU to remove the issue of Palestine as a permanent item from the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council, stating: “We believe that that the chronic, long-term and severe nature of the human rights violations taking place in OPT require the preservation of Palestine on the Council’s agenda and that focus on human rights violations perpetrated by Israel should be maintained.”
Read the oral interventions:
Share this Post