On 9 December 2008, the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) released a report on its recent review of Israel held on 4 December 2008. Most of the council’s 33 recommendations dealt with Israel’s human rights violations against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Adalah submitted a report to the UPR and Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara attended the review session and presented key issues of concern at side-events and at a press conference held together with Badil – Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights.

Many issues highlighted by Adalah were reflected in the discussions and recommendations made by participating States. Key recommendations included:

• The Arab Bedouin in the Naqab: Canada urged Israel to “Ensure the Bedouin populations’ access to basic public services such as sanitation, electricity and water.” Switzerland noted “the difficult situation faced by the Bedouin in Southern Israel, mostly owing to displacement from their ancestral lands, resulting in harm to their right to adequate housing, health and education.” France and the United Kingdom also expressed concerns about the discrimination faced by the Arab Bedouin.

• Discrimination in land allocation: Greece called on Israel to “Take all necessary measures with a view to reducing the existing situation of discrimination and proceed in the near future to the equal allocation of lands, irrespective of the nationality of the owners.” Greece noted that discrimination in the allocation of state lands continued despite the Supreme Court’s decision in Qa’adan.

• Ban on family unification: Switzerland asked Israel: “Do not renew the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law after its expiration in July 2009 and to re-examine its scope with a view to respecting the obligation of nondiscrimination.” The Holy See asked Israel to suspend the law, noting that the effect of the law on families is severe.

• October 2000 killings: “Spare no effort in investigating allegations of violence and killings committed by the police," Sweden urged; Finland and the Netherlands called on Israel to implement Or Commission’s recommendations.

• Criminal law and political participation: “Bring the existing criminal provisions that could be seen to be inconsistent both with the Israeli Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty… into conformity with modern human rights law standards,” Norway urged. Norway noted the recent amendment of the Basic Law: The Knesset prohibiting a person who has visited an enemy country from standing for election for seven years, regardless of the purpose of the visit, and asked how Israel intends to ensure its legislation conforms to freedom of speech and assembly and political rights to elect and to be elected for all citizens.

• Constitution-building and anti-discrimination: Austria called on Israel to “Increase efforts to implement the recommendations of treaty bodies and in particular to use the ongoing negotiations on a new constitution to include general non-discrimination provisions for all Israeli citizens.”

• Religious rights: Jordan urged Israel to “Refrain from interfering in the affairs of religious institutions, especially with respect to the rights of ownership and property,” while Italy asked Israel to “Guarantee equitable protection to all places of worship in the country, including all Muslims and Christian sacred places.”

The United Kingdom recommended that Israel “Ensure that the rights of minorities are fully protected”; Canada urged Israel to “strengthen efforts to ensure equality in the application of the law, to counter discrimination against persons belonging to all minorities, to promote their active participation in public life, and to provide public services and infrastructure fairly”; Finland noted that “despite Israel’s proclamation of equality for citizens, its Bill of Rights does not guarantee equality and the Arab minority continues to suffer from several forms of discrimination.” Mexico, Japan and Nigeria also called on Israel to ensure that all its citizens are treated equally.

Recommendations regarding the OPT included: the fulfillment of Israel’s obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law towards the Palestinian people; the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to establish their own independent state; to end Israel’s ongoing occupation of Arab land; to end the siege on Gaza and collective punishment of civilians; to dismantle the settlements and to cease their expansion; discontinue illegal measures aimed at annexing East Jerusalem and erasing its non-Jewish religious characteristics; the lack of implementation of the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the Wall; restrictions on freedom of movement; the use of administrative detention and torture of detainees; and the rights of detainees to fair procedures and fundamental rights, including the right to a fair trial.

Several states also called on Israel to ensure that human rights defenders are able to carry out their work in safety and France, Jordan, and the Philippines recommended that Israel establish an independent national human rights institution. Israel will now prepare its response to these recommendations, which will be included in an outcome report to be adopted in 2009..

Background on the UPR

The UPR involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN member states once every four years. The UPR process was established when the Human Rights Council was created on 15 March 2006 by the UN General Assembly resolution 60/251. The reviews are conducted by the UPR Working Group, which consists of the 47 members of the Council; however, any UN Member state may take part in the dialogue. The reviews are based on information provided by: (1) the state under review in the form of a “national report”; (2) independent human rights experts and groups; and (3) other stakeholders, including NGOs.  

Reviews take place through a discussion between the state under review and other UN member states. Any UN member can pose questions, comments or make recommendations to the states under review. After the review process, a report is written gathering all of the recommendations made; the state in question may either accept or reject the recommendations providing its reasons. The state is expected to implement the agreed-upon recommendations by the time it is reviewed four years later.

Adalah’s Report to the UPR

UPR Documentation on Israel