UN human rights commission passes resolutions on occupied Arab territories
Regional-UN, Politics, 4/24/1999

The United Nations Human Rights Commission, currently meeting in Geneva, passed a resolution condemning human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The resolution specified "acts of wounding and killing" carried out by Israeli soldiers and settlers against Palestinians and the detention without trial of thousands of Palestinians, confiscation of Palestinian lands and properties, demolition of Palestinian homes and expansion of settlements. It called for the immediate halt of these activities.
The resolution passed by a vote of 31-1 with 21 abstentions.

It also reaffirmed that the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War applies to the Palestinian territories and other occupied Arab territories.

The US, who cast the sole vote against the resolution, characterized the resolution as one-sided.

Wilhelm Hoynck of Germany said on behalf of the European Union said that he would abstain due to concerns that the draft resolution contained elements that "would likely prejudge the final negotiations."

The commission passed a similar resolution on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights by a vote of 32-1 with 20 abstentions. The resolution on the Golan called for Israel to comply with relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, "which declared that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration on the occupied Golan was null and void."

It also called on Israel to "desist from changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan, " stressing that displaced persons from the Golan should be allowed to return and that their property should be recovered.

The resolution also called on Israel to "desist from imposing Israeli citizenship and Israeli identity cards on Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan and to desist from its repressive measures against them; determined that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken or to be taken by Israel that purported to alter the character and legal status of the region were null and void and constituted a flagrant violation of international law; and called once again upon Member States not to recognize any of the legislative or administrative measures and actions referred to in the present resolution."

The commission also adopted a resolution by a vote of 50-1 with two abstentions welcoming the Wye River Memorandum, which was reached on October 23, 1998, and expressed regret over a lack of cooperation on the part of the Israeli government. It also condemned acts of terrorism and called on all parties not to allow terrorist acts to impact the peace process.

The resolution expressed regret over the Israeli government's lack of cooperation with the UN's relevant Special Rapporteur. It also expressed concern over increasing Israeli settlement activities since the Wye accord was reached.

Previous Stories:
  UN General Assembly votes to hold Geneva Convention conference   (2/10/1999)
  UN considers holding a Geneva Convention on Israel practices   (2/6/1999)
  Israel, US upset over UN report on Israeli human rights violations in occupied Arab territories   (11/20/1998)

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