MORNING - Human Rights Council Hears that the Human Rights Situation in Eritrea Continues to Deteriorate and that Both Israeli and Palestinian Authorities Use Punitive Measures to Silence Palestinian and Israeli Civil Society Members
The Human Rights Council this morning heard that the human rights situation in Eritrea continues to deteriorate and that both Israeli and Palestinian authorities use punitive measures to silence Palestinian and Israeli civil society members.
Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, said the overall human rights situation in Eritrea continued to deteriorate. Isaias Afwerki was the only President that Eritrea had ever had since independence 30 years ago. There was no rule of law, independence of the judiciary, and no separation of powers. There were no checks or balances on the President’s absolute power. Eritrea had continued its policy of arbitrary detention and continuous crackdown on any form of dissent. Journalists, political opponents, artists, people of faith, draft evaders and returned asylum seekers were subjected to grave human rights violations, including enforced disappearance, torture, and prolonged arbitrary detention in inhuman or degrading conditions.
Mr. Babiker said Eritreans also continued to be forced into a State-sponsored system of forced labour and military service, serving for years or often for decades. In mid-late 2022, there was an upsurge in forced recruitment, and increasingly coercive practices were used to force Eritreans to participate in the Tigray war. These included applying collective punishments on entire families to force those trying to avoid conscription to present themselves to the authorities. Children continued to be rounded up and conscripted. Conscripted Eritreans often went for years without seeing their families and children grew up with absent fathers. The end to the conflict in Tigray represented a new opportunity for positive change. It was time to take decisive measures to effectively reform the national service, release detainees and adopt the rule of law in Eritrea.
Eritrea, speaking as the country concerned, said Eritrea had celebrated its thirty-second independence anniversary on 24 May last month. The celebrations took place at a historical juncture when Eritrea's independence, sovereignty and national cohesion had been reinforced, and its economic growth was proceeding at an accelerated pace. This was despite sanctions, unilateral coercive measures by certain powers, and ramped-up external hostilities under various pretexts, including the politicisation of human rights. Human rights were mainstreamed in Eritrea's nation-building process. It was deplorable that for more than a decade, some Western countries continued to weaponise human rights to advance their visceral hostility against Eritrea for their own geopolitical interests. To this end, the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea continued to recycle fallacious reports, innuendos, and accusations from dubious sources, without proper validation.
In the ensuing discussion on Eritrea, a number of speakers said they did not support mandates which did not enjoy the support of the country concerned. They rejected any practice which targeted sovereign States and meddled in their internal affairs, under the pretext of human rights. Some speakers commended progress made by the Eritrean Government and said the coercive, unilateral measures imposed on Eritrea should be immediately lifted. Other speakers said the human rights situation in Eritrea remained one of the most critical in the world. The policy of indefinite national service was in urgent need of reform. They called on the Eritrean Government to release all those arbitrarily detained, end the practices of prolonged, incommunicado detention, and develop independent rule-of-law institutions to protect human rights. Speakers condemned severe restrictions on the rights to freedoms of expression, religion or belief and on civil organizations. Eritrea was called on to fully cooperate with the Council’s mechanisms, including by granting the Special Rapporteur full and unhindered access to the country.
Speaking in the dialogue were China, Norway on behalf of a group of countries, Netherlands on behalf of a group of countries, European Union, France, United States, Venezuela, United Kingdom, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Switzerland, Yemen, South Sudan, Sudan, Cuba, Kenya, Ethiopia, Russian Federation, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Burundi and the Syrian Arab Republic.
Also speaking were Christian Solidarity Worldwide, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, CIVICUS - World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights Association, Conscience and Peace Tax International, Human Rights Watch, Youth Parliament for Sustainable Development Goals, Amnesty International, Centre d'études juridiques africaines and the Institute for Human Rights.
The Council then held an interactive dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel.
Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, said the report focused on attacks and restrictions on and harassment of civil society. Palestinian and Israeli civil society members had long stood at the forefront of advocating for self-determination for the Palestinian people, for an end to the occupation and recurring human rights violations and for accountability. The report found that the rights to freedoms of association, expression and opinion, and to peaceful assembly, as well as a number of economic, social and cultural rights, were being violated by all three responsible authorities: the Government of Israel, the Government of the State of Palestine, and the de facto authorities in Gaza. The examination revealed that the majority of violations were being committed by Israeli authorities.
Ms. Pillay said the Israeli Government had increasingly restricted civic space through a strategy of delegitimising and silencing Palestinian and Israeli civil society, to quell dissent, thwart democratic institutions and practices, and strengthen authoritarianism. Israeli authorities used a variety of punitive methods intended to deter and interfere with the activities of Palestinian civil society members. Deprivation of liberty, including through arbitrary arrests and detention, administrative detention, travel bans and restrictions of movement, deportations and revocation of identity and residency documents, were all widely practiced against civil society members. The Commission found that security agencies of the Palestinian Authority and the Gaza authorities also used detention, torture and ill treatment to punish and intimidate critics and opponents. Legislation, including counter-terrorism legislation, was increasingly used by all responsible authorities to undermine the ability of civil society to operate effectively. Palestinian and Israeli women human rights defenders had been targeted by all duty bearers and by non-State actors.
Israel was not present in the room to take the floor as a concerned country.
State of Palestine, speaking as a concerned country, said a number of countries, including the United States, had sent a joint statement against the mandate of this Commission of Inquiry. This was deplorable. The illegal occupation of the State of Palestine had been going on for 56 years. There were ongoing incursions into cities, villages and camps by the occupation forces. The occupying power had continued to refuse to cooperate with the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council. Israel had last year classified six Palestinian institutions as terrorist organizations and closed them. Occupying forces had killed 52 journalists without accountability for any of the officials responsible. The occupying power needed to curb its racist policies and guarantee non-impunity. The State of Palestine was investigating the violations highlighted in the report of the Commission.
The Commissioner General of the Independent Commission for Human Rights of Palestine also took the floor.
In the ensuing discussion on the occupied Palestinian territories, some speakers, among other things, expressed concern about reports of the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. They condemned human rights violations in occupied territories by Israeli authorities. Speakers also expressed concern about Israel’s bombing of the occupied territory, forced relocation and arbitrary detention of Palestinians, and expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territory. Some speakers expressed support for a two-State solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian State, which they said would lead to peace in the region. Some speakers expressed support for the Commission of Inquiry’s mandate and called for the full implementation of the Commission’s recommendations, while other speakers expressed concern that the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry was too broad, one-sided and did not have a sunset clause. Some speakers condemned anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli bias expressed by certain members of the Commission, and raised concerns about a lack of information in the Commission’s report on human rights violations by Palestinians.
Speaking in the discussion were United States on behalf of a group of countries, Venezuela on behalf of a group of countries, European Union, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Oman on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Lebanon on behalf of the group of Arab States, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Luxembourg, Iraq, Netherlands, Sovereign Order of Malta, France, Spain, United States, Syria, Indonesia, Venezuela, Maldives, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa, Ireland, Egypt, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Türkiye, Namibia, Bangladesh, Oman, China, Iran, Libya, Chile, Niger, Senegal, Yemen, Mauritania, Jordan, Cuba, Algeria, Lebanon, Bolivia, Russian Federation, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Liechtenstein and Australia.
Also speaking were Defence for Children International, Institute for Non-Governmental Organization Research, Human Rights Watch, United Nations Watch, Norwegian Refugee Council, B'nai B'rith, ADALAH - Legal Centrr for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Amnesty International, BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights and International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists.
The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s fifty-third regular session can be found here.
The Council will next meet this afternoon at 3 p.m. to hold an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s annual report.
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea
Report
The Council has before it the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea (A/HRC/53/20).
Presentation of the Report
MOHAMED ABDELSALAM BABIKER, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, said May this year marked 30 years since Eritrea gained formal independence and was recognised internationally as a State. Three decades on, Isaias Afwerki was the only President that Eritrea had ever had. No national elections had been held since and the Constitution had not been implemented. There was no rule of law, independence of the judiciary, and no separation of powers. There were no checks or balances on the President’s absolute power. The People’s Front for Democracy and Justice remained the only authorised party. There was also no independent media, no civil society, or political opposition in the country.
Eritrea had continued its policy of arbitrary detention and continuous crackdown on any form of dissent. Journalists, political opponents, artists, people of faith, draft evaders and returned asylum seekers were subjected to grave human rights violations, including enforced disappearance, torture, and prolonged arbitrary detention in inhuman or degrading conditions. Mr. Babiker urged Eritrea to promptly release all those unlawfully and arbitrarily detained. Faith and religious beliefs were highly restricted and controlled by the Government, which only allowed four authorised religious denominations. As of April, an estimated 400 evangelical Christians and 27 Jehova’s Witnesses remained arbitrarily imprisoned. Religious leaders and people of faith remained in detention in inhuman and degrading conditions, without any charges or due process, often for years.
Eritreans continued to be forced into a State-sponsored system of forced labour and military service, serving for years or often for decades. In mid-late 2022, there was an upsurge in forced recruitment, and increasingly coercive practices were used to force Eritreans to participate in the Tigray war. These included applying collective punishments on entire families to force those trying to avoid conscription to present themselves to the authorities. Children continued to be rounded up and conscripted. Conscripted Eritreans often went for years without seeing their families and children grew up with absent fathers. The end to the conflict in Tigray represented a new opportunity for positive change. It was time to take decisive measures to effectively reform the national service, release detainees and adopt the rule of law in Eritrea.
Mr. Babiker welcomed the cessation of hostilities agreement signed in November 2022 between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and commended both parties for taking this crucial step forward towards peace. However, the absence of accountability measures for crimes committed by the Eritrean Defence Forces remained an issue of concern. Eritrean forces had committed human rights and humanitarian law violations in Tigray, including large-scale massacres, extrajudicial killings, sexual and gender-based violence, looting, obstruction of humanitarian assistance, destruction of refugee camps and other humanitarian infrastructure, and kidnapping and targeted attacks against Eritrean refugees. These acts should not remain in impunity.
The Eritrean Afar indigenous community was one of the most disenfranchised communities in Eritrea. For decades, they had been subjected to discrimination, harassment, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and interference with their traditional forms of livelihood, threatening their way of life and their existence as an indigenous community. Over 577,000 Eritreans had sought asylum outside of their country as of the end of 2022. More recently, the situation of the 134,000 Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in Sudan had become particularly dire. Displaced once more, Eritrean refugees had been left in a highly vulnerable situation. There were several reports about missing Eritrean refugees, raising alarms that some might have been kidnapped by the Eritrean authorities. Mr. Babiker urged neighbouring countries to accept and provide protection and assistance to Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers, and the international community to exercise solidarity.
Eritrea continued its policy of non-cooperation with the Council’s own Special Procedures and other human rights mechanisms, including treaty bodies and African regional human rights mechanisms. The Special Rapporteur urged the Government to reconsider its position and establish a meaningful dialogue that could pave the way for improvements in the human rights situation. He also urged the Human Rights Council to adopt measures regarding the prolonged lack of cooperation of Eritrea with the mandate. The overall human rights situation in Eritrea continued to deteriorate. Mr. Abdelsalam Babiker called on members of the Council, and the international community at large, to take all available measures and exert maximum pressure on Eritrea to promote respect for human rights in Eritrea, and to ensure access to justice and the rule of law to the Eritrean people.
Statement by the Country Concerned
Eritrea, speaking as the country concerned, said Eritrea had celebrated its thirty-second independence anniversary on 24 May last month. The celebrations took place at a historical juncture when Eritrea's independence, sovereignty and national cohesion had been reinforced, and its economic growth was proceeding at an accelerated pace. This was despite sanctions, unilateral coercive measures by certain powers, and ramped-up external hostilities under various pretexts, including the politicisation of human rights. Human rights were mainstreamed in Eritrea's nation-building process. It was deplorable that for more than a decade, some Western countries continued to weaponise human rights to advance their visceral hostility against Eritrea for their own geopolitical interests. To this end, the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea continued to recycle fallacious reports, innuendos, and accusations from dubious sources, without proper validation.
In his current report, the Special Rapporteur again peddled the usual vitriol, spiced by additional and sensational appeals, to widen the scope and duration of the politicised witch-hunting campaigns against Eritrea under the umbrella of the Human Rights Council. The National Service was falsely misconstrued as "forced labour" without any attempt to examine its statutory provisions, rationale, dynamics and indispensable contributions for safeguarding the hard-won sovereignty and national security of the country. There had also been false allegation of "discrimination and marginalisation” of the Afar ethnic group in Eritrea. False allegations circulated by certain powers and affiliated media outlets on Eritrea's legitimate, collaborative, and defensive responses, attempted to roll back a war of insurrection in the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia, whose pronounced objectives included acts of aggression against Eritrea.
Eritrea had explained, in previous communications, the unwarranted circumstances and politicised purposes for which the Special Rapporteur was first created in 2012. Throughout the years, the hand-picked experts had displayed disdain for objectivity, acting as militant mouthpieces for Eritrea's detractors and enemies. The data they collected was sourced from certain powers and forces who openly entertained an illicit regime change in Eritrea. Against the backdrop of the failures of the politicised mandate, Eritrea requested the current Council session to reject the unacceptable report submitted by the Special Rapporteur in the present dialogue; to terminate the unwarranted tool of harassment against Eritrea; and to support and promote dignified engagement and cooperation with Eritrea on the basis of genuine partnerships.
Discussion
In the discussion, a number of speakers said they did not support mandates which did not enjoy the support of the country concerned. They rejected any practice which targeted sovereign States and meddled in their internal affairs under the pretext of human rights. This ran counter to the Charter of the United Nations and was counterproductive to the genuine promotion and protection of human rights.
Other speakers said the human rights situation in Eritrea remained one of the most critical in the world. The report by the Special Rapporteur shed light on human rights violations committed in the context of national and military service of indefinite duration, including acts of torture and sexual violence. The system had multiple implications for people's access to economic, social and cultural rights. From mid-2022 through early 2023, the Government of Eritrea had conducted an intensive forced recruitment campaign during which it collectively punished relatives of alleged draft evaders and deserters. Older people and women with young children were evicted from their homes and arbitrarily detained, with some cut off from the government coupons, a food rationing system that was critical to many people’s survival. Several speakers urged the Council to renew the Special Rapporteur’s mandate.
Some speakers said the policy of indefinite national service was in urgent need of reform. The service affected the lives of thousands of Eritreans, particularly the younger generation, as it was an impediment to their right to education, and was the key reason they chose to leave the country. Some speakers said they were deeply concerned by reports of continued Eritrean involvement in Ethiopia, and condemned earlier deployments of child soldiers and the forced conscription of Eritrean refugees. The Government was urged to immediately cease such practices, withdraw any remaining Eritrean forces from Ethiopia, and investigate all alleged breaches of international law by Eritrean actors.
A number of speakers noted that many Eritreans remained disappeared. The Eritrean Government should release all those arbitrarily detained, end the practices of prolonged, incommunicado detention, and develop independent rule-of-law institutions to protect human rights. Speakers condemned the severe restrictions on the rights to freedoms of expression, religion or belief, and on civil society organizations. Eritrea was called on to fully cooperate with the Council’s mechanisms, including by granting the Special Rapporteur full and unhindered access to the country.
Some speakers commended the efforts made by the Eritrean Government which should be taken into account and encouraged. The progress in the country within the spheres of education and health, as well as the withdrawal of Eritrean forces from several towns in Northern Ethiopia, was positive. Eritrea had also made steps in advancing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Eritrea’s engagement in the Universal Periodic Review process and the African Peer Review Mechanism allowed for the discussion of human rights issues in a spirit of mutual trust and partnership.
A number of speakers said the coercive, unilateral measures imposed on Eritrea undermined human rights in the country and should be immediately lifted. Countries needed to provide Eritrea with technical assistance and capacity building, in accordance with its views. Speakers noted that Eritrea was against the continuation of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur as it heightened confrontation in the Council and squandered valuable resources. The Special Rapporteur’s report highlighted the Tigray issue which extended beyond its mandate. Eritrea needed to be provided with the appropriate support to address recommendations from the Universal Periodic Review.
Speakers asked the Special Rapporteur, regarding the cessation of hostilities in Ethiopia, what new opportunities were there for progress in the enjoyment and protection of human rights in Eritrea? How could the rights of Eritreans who had fled their country be better protected? What specific steps did Eritrea need to take to defend the integrity of its membership of the Council?
Concluding Remarks
MOHAMED ABDELSALAM BABIKER, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, said that Eritrea had never cooperated with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur over the last 12 years. He expressed hope that Council members would open a channel of communication and engage constructively with the Eritrean Government. It was important for Eritrea, as a member of the Council, to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur’s mandate. Eritrea needed to reform its arbitrary military service scheme, search for and release disappeared people, and take steps to promote the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. He expressed hope that Eritrea would give young people the choice between joining the military service and taking up a professional career.
The situation of Eritreans outside of Eritrea needed to be considered. Eritreans had the right to protection outside of the country. Receiving countries needed to adopt policies to protect Eritrean refugees and give them access to civil services and livelihoods. Mr. Babiker said there was a need for accountability for crimes committed by Eritreans in the conflict in Tigray. Eritrean armed forces had effective control over camps in Tigray, hence their actions fell within the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. The Special Rapporteur was also mandated to examine the situation of human rights of Eritreans overseas. Mr. Babiker said the people of Eritrea, especially children, as well as certain Member States and non-governmental organizations had provided welcome support to his mandate.
Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel
Report
The Council has before it the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, submitted pursuant to Council resolution S-30/1 (A/HRC/53/22).
Presentation of Report
NAVI PILLAY, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, said the report focused on attacks and restrictions on and harassment of civil society. In preparing the report, the Commission had engaged with victims and witnesses, through two sets of public and closed hearings, held in November 2022 and March 2023. Palestinian and Israeli civil society members had long stood at the forefront of advocating for self-determination for the Palestinian people, for an end to the occupation and recurring human rights violations and for accountability. The report found that the rights to freedoms of association, expression and opinion, and to peaceful assembly, as well as a number of economic, social and cultural rights, were being violated by all three responsible authorities: the Government of Israel, the Government of the State of Palestine, and the de facto authorities in Gaza. The examination revealed that the majority of violations were being committed by Israeli authorities.
Ms. Pillay said the Israeli Government had increasingly restricted civic space through a strategy of delegitimising and silencing Palestinian and Israeli civil society, to quell dissent, thwart democratic institutions and practices, and strengthen authoritarianism. Israeli authorities used a variety of punitive methods intended to deter and interfere with the activities of Palestinian civil society members. Deprivation of liberty, including through arbitrary arrests and detention, administrative detention, travel bans and restrictions of movement, deportations and revocation of identity and residency documents, were all widely practiced against civil society members.
The Commission found that security agencies of the Palestinian Authority and the Gaza authorities also used detention, torture and ill treatment to punish and intimidate critics and opponents. Legislation, including counter-terrorism legislation, was increasingly used by all responsible authorities to undermine the ability of civil society to operate effectively. In particular, Israeli authorities’ application of its 2016 counter-terrorism law to Palestinian civil society organizations violated international human rights law. Additionally, some actions undertaken by the Israeli Government against civil society organizations could amount to violations of international humanitarian law and could constitute crimes under international law.
The report found that Palestinian journalists were particularly targeted by all duty bearers with harassment, assaults, smear campaigns, arrests, detentions, accusations and charges of incitement to violence. Israeli journalists were also being monitored and harassed. Palestinian and Israeli women human rights defenders had been targeted by all duty bearers and by non-State actors. The lack of accountability for gender-based violence, including sexual violence, enabled and encouraged the targeting of women human rights defenders. In Israel, the Government was intervening more frequently to prevent artistic activity and events that criticised the Government’s occupation policies, or focussed on the rights of the Palestinian people.
Ms. Pillay said the Commission was concerned with the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, and was alarmed by the high number of civilians, including children, killed in the West Bank and Gaza in recent years, including in the recent escalation. In 2023, Israeli authorities continued dispossessing Palestinians of their identity, land and livelihood in the occupied West Bank, including through the expansion of illegal settlements and outposts, with the aim of further advancing the permanent occupation and annexation. The next report to the General Assembly would examine the use of force and unlawful killings, including recurring Israeli attacks and rockets fired from Gaza. The Commission reiterated the call for Israel to comply fully with its international legal obligations and end the occupation.
Statement by Concerned Country
Israel was not present in the room to take the floor as a concerned country.
State of Palestine, speaking as a concerned country, said a number of countries, including the United States, had sent a joint statement against the mandate of this Commission of Inquiry. This was deplorable. The illegal occupation of the State of Palestine had been going on for 56 years. There were ongoing incursions into cities, villages and camps by the occupation forces. Innocent civilians, including women and children, continued to be targeted by the occupying power. Yesterday alone, seven had died and 100 were wounded in Jenin and Husan at the hands of Israeli forces. Land theft and the construction of colonial settlements had been ongoing since 1967.
The occupying power continued to refuse to cooperate with the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council. It had not allowed the High Commissioner and his Office to obtain visas and residency permits, and placed restrictions on various United Nations institutions and obstructed their work. Israel had last year classified six Palestinian institutions as terrorist organizations and closed them. Mohammad El Halabi, the Director of the Gaza office of World Vision, had been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Legal activist Salah Hammouri was imprisoned, expelled from Palestine and prevented from entering Palestine. The media centre in Gaza, which included a number of Palestinian, Arab and international media agencies, had been shelled in 2021 to prevent it from conveying messages critical of the occupying power. Occupying forces had killed 52 journalists without accountability for any of the officials responsible.
The occupying power needed to curb its racist policies and guarantee non-impunity. The State of Palestine was investigating the violations highlighted in the report of the Commission. State of Palestine asked about obstacles that the Commission faced in fulfilling its mandate, and about the root causes underlying recurring tensions, instability and the prolonged conflict, including systematic and ongoing discrimination based on national, ethnic or religious identity.
ISSAM A. ABUALHAJ, Commissioner General of the Independent Commission for Human Rights of Palestine, said Israeli violations of the freedom of expression, impingements on media freedoms, and targeting of activists, journalists, and human rights defenders across the occupied Palestinian territory were part and parcel of Israel’s policy to impede activities for covering issues and events. Israel pursued a systematic policy of targeting media representatives and activists. While their institutions were targeted, journalists and advocates were assaulted, arrested, and placed under a travel ban. These practices required serious pressure to be exerted on Israel to uphold international standards and conventions. The Israeli occupying authorities had attacked and criminalised development actors and human rights organizations in the occupied Palestinian territory. Not only had Israel labelled and shut down their offices, but they also incessantly launched threats against and prepared draft laws to cripple these organizations.
Israel’s abusive practices against human rights activists reflected a policy set for deterring human rights defenders. Of these, Salah Hammouri was deported from the occupied Palestinian territory. Such practices conveyed the message that human rights defenders could be targeted, placed in arbitrary detention, and sent into exile. On the other hand, Palestinian authorities restricted the freedom of opinion and expression and persecuted human rights defenders, activists, and journalists. These practices were a direct reflection of constraints placed on Palestinian authorities as part of their relations and dealings with Israel.
Discussion
In the ensuing discussion, some speakers, among other things, expressed concern about reports of the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Some speakers condemned human rights violations in occupied territories by Israeli authorities, including attacks on Palestinian journalists, human rights defenders and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. Speakers also expressed concern about Israel’s bombing of the occupied territory, forced relocation and arbitrary detention of Palestinians, and expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territory. Israel needed to stop restricting the activities of Palestinian civil society members on the pretext of anti-terrorist measures, stop violating economic, social and cultural rights, and stop constructing settlement units in Palestinian territory.
Some speakers expressed support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian State and promoted Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. Israel needed to lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip as soon as possible. Some speakers said both sides of the dispute needed to engage in dialogue and negotiation to achieve peace in the region. Speakers expressed support for a two-State solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian State, which they said would lead to peace in the region. Accountability for human rights violations needed to be respected. Freedom of expression, religious belief, association and assembly needed to be promoted. Israel needed to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry and all United Nations mandate holders. Some speakers expressed support for the Commission of Inquiry’s mandate, called for the full implementation of the Commission’s recommendations, and condemned attempts to undermine the mandate.
Other speakers expressed concern that the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry was too broad, one-sided and did not have a sunset clause. The Commission of Inquiry needed to be reviewed, these speakers said. Some speakers condemned anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli bias expressed by certain members of the Commission, and raised concerns about a lack of information in the Commission’s report on human rights violations by Palestinians. Speakers raised concerns about reports of harassment of human rights defenders by Palestinian authorities, and called for accountability for all human rights violations by both sides. All parties to the conflict needed to refrain from unilateral actions that undermined progress towards peace.
Questions were asked on actions that needed to be taken to protect women human rights defenders, on methods of strengthening the Commission of Inquiry, and on whether the Commission stood by anti-Semitic comments by one of its members.
Concluding Remarks
CHRIS SIDOTI, Member of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, said the comments reflected the views held by the Commission of Inquiry. The Commission were most concerned about the deteriorating situation on the ground in Israel and Palestine. It was encouraging that not one of the 50 States took issue with the content of the report. This indicated acceptance of the views made and would lead the Commission to continue. The next report to the General Assembly would take up the use of force. Underlying root causes were of grave concern, particularly the effects of occupation on civil society. The Commission was pleased that its mandate was wide, covering Israel and Palestine and duty bearers in all areas. This report was the first opportunity where the Commission members had the chance to exercise the breadth of their mandate.
MILOON KOTHARI, Member of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, welcomed the increasing support to the work of the Commission and would appreciate that States supporting the work went beyond issuing statements. It would be ideal to see specific actions taken on the ground, similar to the standards being applied to Ukraine. The western media and the manner it reported on the ground was very disturbing, including the British Broadcast Corporation, the Washington Post and the New York Times, which were almost verging towards fake news. Women human rights defenders remained at the forefront of social change and faced distinct risks which needed to be addressed. This included all duty bearers to ensure women human rights defenders could participate safely in activities. The report highlighted the lack of accountability for sexual-based violence against women human rights defenders. Israel treated the occupation as permanent and had effectively annexed the West Bank. The February 2023 decision to annex administrative and legislative powers were concerning.
NAVI PILLAY, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, said she was gratified at the overwhelming expressions of concern from all those who addressed the Council. She appealed to Member States to cooperate with the Commission. Access to Palestine, Gaza and Israel was needed; this was currently denied. The Commission would like to meet with the United States and the 27 States on behalf of whom the speaker spoke, and the European Union.
Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media;
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.
HRC23.065E