22 March
2001
Members of the UN Commission on Human Rights
Ms. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Professor John Dugard
Professor Richard Falk
Dr. Kamal Hossein
Re: Remarks to the Report of
the UN Human Rights Inquiry Commission – Palestinian Citizens of Israel
Dear Sirs and Madams:
On behalf of Adalah: The
Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, I want to thank the UN Human
Rights Inquiry Commission (“the UN Commission”) for meeting with representatives
of the organization, as well as with other Palestinian and Israeli NGOs, in
Jerusalem last month. It is very important to us that members of the UN
Commission afforded time, despite all political obstacles and the exclusion of
the Palestinian minority from the UN Commission on Human Rights 19 October 2000
resolution, to listen to the concerns of NGOs regarding Israel’s gross violation
of human rights against Palestinian citizens during the “second Intifada”. We
recently received and reviewed your report “Question of the Violation of Human
Rights in the Occupied Arab Territories, including Palestine.” We wish to convey
our remarks concerning the report in order to clarify our position and enhance
future cooperation between us.
Our meeting with you in
February was one of a series of interactions Adalah has had with the UN
Commission on Human Rights since the start of the crisis. We have used this
opportunity to raise awareness about the events within Israel, which resulted in
the killing of 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel and the wounding of hundreds
more by Israeli security forces. In October, an Adalah Board member presented
our detailed report on human rights violations committed by the Israeli
government against Palestinian citizens of Israel since 28 September to a
Special Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights on the conflict in
Israel/Palestine. In November, Adalah representatives attended a meeting of
Palestinian and Israeli NGOs to discuss the current crisis with the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Mary Robinson, during which we presented her
with a statement outlining our concerns about mass arrests, the mistreatment of
detainees while in police custody, and the abuse of due process rights by the
Israeli courts of Palestinian citizens of Israel. After carefully
evaluating Ms. Robinson’s visit report, we sent her a letter in December
presenting our remarks on her assessment of the situation. Although we welcomed
Ms. Robinson’s inclusion of human rights abuses committed against Palestinian
citizens in Israel generally and during the Intifada,
she neglected
to afford the matter due attention (dedicating only 1 page of 20) and failed to
provide a specific call to the Israeli government to halt the continuing human
rights violations against its Palestinian citizens.
We appreciate that while the
concerns of the Palestinian minority in Israel go beyond the scope of your
mandate, you met with us and other NGOs on 14 February, demonstrating
consideration for the plight of Palestinians and the excessive and
disproportional use of force used against them by Israeli forces in both the
Occupied Territories and Israel. It is our view that the concerns of
Palestinians in both areas are interconnected and inter-related, and cannot be
viewed in isolation, especially given common violations of both military and
police open-fire regulations and the use of force resulting in the killing and
injury of so many Palestinians. Of course, this is not to say that Israel’s
collective punishment policies including curfews and closures in the Occupied
Territories are comparable to its actions in Israel. As you know from our
previous submittal, Adalah is representing the High Follow-up Committee for the
Arab Citizens in Israel before the Israeli Commission of Inquiry (‘COI’). After three weeks
of hearings covering the Arab towns of Jatt, Umm al-Fahem, and Arrabe,
testimonies and autopsy reports released by the COI have confirmed that police
commanders ordered the use of live ammunition against Palestinian demonstrators,
resulting in their deaths.
With that in mind, we were
disappointed to discover that the report of the UN Human Rights Inquiry
Commission makes no mention of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Consequently,
there is no condemnation of the Israeli government’s gross human rights
violations against Palestinian citizens, nor any recommendation that those
responsible for these violations be brought to justice and that government
officials be held responsible. It does not address the illegal police actions,
the excessive use of lethal force, or the denial of due process rights of
Palestinian citizen detainees brought before the Israeli courts. At our
Jerusalem meeting, we submitted a package of materials to you highlighting these
gross violations of the human rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel
including: Adalah’s Summary Report to the United
Nations Human Rights Commission Emergency Session on Israel/Palestine, 17-18
October 2000; Adalah’s Report of the Submission to
the Commission of Inquiry 22 January 2001; Statement of the High
Follow-Up Committee for the Arab Citizens of Israel to the
Commission;
press releases; newspaper ads published by Adalah; and relevant news clippings.
No reference to any of the issues raised in these documents was made in your
report.
This matter is particularly
alarming given that the UN Commission on Human Rights remains the foremost
international arena in which to raise concerns of gross human rights violations
perpetrated against civilians, particularly national minorities, by their
governments. Thus, if the UN Commission on Human Rights neglects to mention the
grave events that occurred in Arab towns and villages in Israel in October, the
Palestinian community inside Israel is left with few alternative mechanisms for
safeguarding the rights afforded to them under the UN Charter.
On a final note, we wish to reiterate our appreciation for the opportunity to meet with you and hope that your visit has opened a new channel of dialogue between us. It is in this spirit that we offer our remarks to the report, and urge the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Commission on Human Rights to consider appointing a special rapporteur with a clear mandate to examine and investigate the human rights violations of Palestinian citizens in order to hold the Israeli government to its commitments under international human rights law.
Sincerely,
Hassan Jabareen, Advocate
General Director
CC: Dr. Amin Mekki Medani, Chief Technical Advisor, OHCHR, Gaza Office