The
Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human
Rights
of
the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories The following is the first in a series of articles that will be presented by Palestine & The UN regarding United Nations committees and bodies specifically related to the question of Palestine. The articles will focus on the establishment of those committees and bodies, as well as their histories, mandates, work and compositions. The first to be reviewed in this series will be the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.- Over
32 years ago, following the June 1967 war and the occupation of the
remainder of Mandated Palestine (West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the
Gaza Strip) as well as of other Arab territories (Syrian Golan and
Egyptian Sinai), the U.N. General Assembly adopted resolution 2443 (XXIII)
on 19 December 1968, establishing a “Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the
Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories.”          Â
The Committee was to be composed of three Member States, to be appointed
by the President of the General Assembly.Â
The Assembly requested that the Special Committee report to the
Secretary-General, and the Secretary-General was requested to provide the
Special Committee with all the necessary facilities for the performance of
its task. Israel, the occupying Power, was requested to cooperate with the
Committee. In
December of 1989, the name of the Special Committee was changed by General
Assembly resolution 44/48 A to “Special
Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of
the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.”
The current composition of the Special Committee is as follows: Malaysia
(which replaced Yugoslavia) - represented by the Ambassador of Malaysia to
the U.N., Mr. Hasmy Agam; Senegal - represented by the Ambassador of
Senegal to the U.N. Office at Geneva, Ms. Absa Claude Diallo; and Sri
Lanka - represented by the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the U.N., Mr. John
de Saram, serving as Chairman. The
Mandate of the Special Committee:Â As
set out in resolution 2443 (XXIII) and subsequent resolutions, the primary
mandate of the Special Committee has been to investigate Israeli practices
affecting the human rights of the population of the occupied territories
and to report its findings in this regard to the Secretary-General.Â
Its mandate covers all civilian population living in the
territories under Israeli occupation in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including Jerusalem, and the Syrian Arab Golan, as well as
persons normally resident in the areas under occupation but who had left
those areas because of hostilities. The
investigation of Israeli “practices” refers to those actions which,
irrespective of whether or not they are in implementation of a policy,
reflect a pattern of behavior on the part of the Israeli authorities
toward the civilian population in the occupied areas that violates their
human rights. The scope of
the mandate of the Special Committee involves those rights which the
Security Council refers to as “essential and inalienable human rights”
in its resolution 237 (1967) of 14 June 1967, and those rights which have
their basis in the protection afforded by international law in particular
circumstances, such as military occupation and in cases of prisoners of
war or capture. Â Further,
in accordance with General Assembly resolution 3005 (XXVII) of 1972, the
Special Committee is required to investigate allegations concerning the
exploitation and the looting of natural resources, the pillaging of the
archaeological and cultural heritage and interference in the freedom of
worship in the Holy Places of the occupied territories. In
carrying out its mandate, the Special Committee has, with respect to human
rights, relied on the following instruments: (1) The Charter of the United
Nations; (2) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights; (3) The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; (4) The
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; (5) The
Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time
of War; (6) The Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners
of War; (7) The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property
in the Event of Armed Conflict; and (8) The Hague Conventions of 1899 and
1907 respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land. Â The
Special Committee has also relied on those resolutions relevant to the
situation of civilians in occupied territories adopted by U.N. organs,
including the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social
Council and the Commission on Human Rights, as well as the relevant
resolutions of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour
Organization (ILO). Work
of the Special Committee:Â Since
Israel, the occupying Power, has been intransigent in its refusal to
cooperate with the Special Committee since its establishment, the members
of the Special Committee have relied on various other means to perform
their duties. The Committee collects evidence through meetings with
relevant U.N. agencies and bodies such as the U.N. High Commissioner for
Human Rights, the ILO, and the WHO, which compile annual reports on the
situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem. The
Committee also holds meetings in Amman, Cairo, and Damascus where the
members meet with officials from the host countries and with affected
witnesses, including those from the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The
Special Committee also receives excerpts of reports appearing in the
Israeli press and Arab press in the occupied territories, as well as a
number of communications and reports from Governments, organizations, and
individuals concerning the occupied territories. Testimony
before the Special Committee, which is reflected in the Committee’s
reports, falls under categories including, inter
alia, the following: Palestinians killed by Israeli troops or
civilians; Israeli settlement policy and annexation; Israeli settler
activities; Harassment and physical ill-treatment; Collective punishment;
Confiscation of land; House demolitions; Imposition of curfews and
closures; Expulsions; Measures affecting freedom of movement, education,
religion and expression; Treatment of prisoners and detainees; Economic
and social situation; Health conditions; and the Syrian Golan.           Â
Normally, the Committee presents two or three comprehensive reports
annually, comprising the main report, to the Secretary-General, which are
circulated to Member States throughout the session.Â
The General Assembly agenda item regarding the Report of the
Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices is then addressed
during each session by the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(4th Committee), which then, in light of the reports, currently
makes its recommendations to the Assembly in the form of five resolutions
adopted annually. The focuses
of those resolutions are: the mandate of the Special Committee; the
applicability of the 4th Geneva Convention to the occupied
territories; Israeli practices in violation of the human rights of the
Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories; Israeli
settlements; and the Syrian Golan. Positions
of the Parties:Â The
international community’s position is supportive of the work of the
Special Committee. It is also
supportive in this respect of the Palestinian determination to uphold the
rule of international law and relevant U.N. resolutions as the main terms
of reference concerning the Israeli occupation and in protection of the
rights of the Palestinian people during the transitional period. At
the time of the Committee’s establishment, however, the General Assembly
was starkly polarized into two groups.Â
As a result, although they did not oppose it, several Member States
did not extend support to the Committee. Unfortunately, this pattern of
voting on the mandate of the Committee continues, despite the overall
improvement in voting on other resolutions. Each
year, under the agenda item regarding the work of this Committee, the
international community consistently reaffirms an established
international consensus on the applicability of the 4th Geneva
Convention to all the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem,
as well as to all the other Arab territories occupied by Israel in 1967.
This applicability has also been reaffirmed in 25 U.N. Security Council
resolutions and in a multitude of resolutions of the General Assembly and
other U.N. bodies. Â As
noted earlier, Israel, the occupying Power, has repeatedly rejected the
demands made by the General Assembly, to receive the Special Committee or
cooperate with it and facilitate its work. The Israeli side claims that
the Committee does not serve any useful purpose or advance the cause of
peace. The Israeli approach
towards the Committee at the U.N. has consistently promoted a hands-off
strategy, which would have the international community leave the
Palestinian people under the mercy (or rather punishment) of the Israeli
side – with regard to both the situation on the ground and the imbalance
of the negotiating table.  Moreover,
the Israeli position lacks any degree of objectivity and this unreasonable
intransigence has been repeated even with regard to the Special Rapporteur
appointed by the Commission of the Human Rights.  |