Human Rights Council- 10th Session
Agenda Item 6- UPR- Israel
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
19 March, 2009
Delivered by Jeremie Smith
Thank you Mr. President.
CIHRS commends the engagement of the state of Israel with the UPR process.
In reference to various paragraphs throughout the outcome report, including pargs. 39, 67 and 69, and recommendations 24, 27, 35 and 36:
CIHRS would like to point out that all international arbitration bodies and UN mechanisms, including the HRC, have been unequivocal and united in their conclusions that confiscation and settlement of Occupied Palestinian lands by Israel constitute illegal acts under international law, including violations of fundamental rights and humanitarian standards. The world community is united in asserting that there can be no such thing as a “legal” settlement within the 1967 borders of the OPTs.
Never-the-less, as pointed out by the UK in parg. 39 “according to reports, in the first half of 2008, Israel expanded settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at a faster rate than in the previous seven years.” The process continues unabated.
CIHRS contends that Israel’s illegal policy of settlement expansion and territorial confiscation creates a situation that not only violates the fundamental rights of Palestinians, but ultimately endangers the security and basic rights of all Israeli citizens. In this sense CIHRS would like to know what steps the government of Israel has or will take to ensure that its illegal policy of settlement expansion and territorial confiscation will end, and all existing settlements will be dismantled?
The ability of Israel to begin to publically acknowledge the suffering of the Palestinian people caused by its occupation and settlement of Palestinian land, and the illegal character of its policies in the OPTs constitutes an important first step in addressing the political impasse currently facing Israel and the Palestinians. In this sense, Israel’s unwillingness to adequately acknowledge or address the many human rights violations committed by Israeli forces in the OPTs within its UPR State Report is an ominous sign.
Thank you Mr. President
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