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| UN General Assembly |
Restore UN legitimacy on human rights, equality, nonviolence
and peace, justice
End double standards and duplicity ● End occupation ● End violence ● End impunity ● Uphold rule of international laws and conventions
Excerpting, editing by
Carolyn Bennett
Situation
in Palestine, other occupied Arab territories
Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights KYUNG-WHA
KANG presented Secretary-General’s report on progress made in the
implementation of recommendations of the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza
conflict:
Respecting
human rights and international humanitarian law obligations means perpetrators are
brought to justice requiring independent, impartial, thorough, effective and
prompt investigations and fair trials that meet international standards.
Penalties
commensurate with the crimes are required.
There
is a need to ensure accountability for violations of human rights and
international humanitarian law throughout the occupied Palestinian territory
[and] bring to justice Israeli settlers who perpetrate violence against
Palestinians and their property.
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| Palestine Middle East Region |
[emphases]
Palestine:
End occupation
“…Israel continues the occupation of the Palestine
territories and the violations of international human rights law, international
humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, as well as the advisory opinion of
the International Court of Justice concerning the construction of the wall.
“International law and in particular the Fourth Geneva
Convention must apply in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in East
Jerusalem.
“Occupation [is] the main cause of the suffering of the
Palestine people and the pursuit of the policies of Israel violates the
inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. …
“Palestine [calls] on the international community to tackle
the issue through the United Nations agencies, laws, rules and resolutions that
govern the work of the United Nations.”
Syria:
Breach of law, Arabs suffer under occupation
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| Women for Human Rights |
“…Despite numerous resolutions, Israel (the country of
impunity), [believing itself] above the law, continues to flout resolutions by
the international community.
“Israel continues to abuse human rights and ignore its
responsibilities with regard to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment of
prisoners, and other basic rights such as the right to education and the right
to health of the population in the occupied territories. Israel also continues
to deprive the inhabitants of the right to justice, access to courts and
redress.
“Syrian prisoners continued to suffer from inhuman and
unjust imprisonment.”
Syria challenged Israel to “withdraw from all Arab occupied
territories on the bases of the Madrid Conference and all relevant United
Nations resolutions; [and stressed] the need for a fact-finding mission in
order to assess the situation of Israeli settlements.”
Further, Syria called for Israel to “release all prisoners
and detainees and respect its obligations under the Geneva Conventions and [to
allow access] of the International Committee of the Red Cross to supervise the
conditions of detainees.…
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| Eleanor Roosevelt and Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1947 |
“Israel cannot remain above international law and
accountability nor continue to enjoy impunity.”
Imbalance, inequality: 193 nations comprise the
UN General Assembly.
THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL ALONE (5 permanent
member nations) has power to make decisions member states are
obligated under the charter to carry out.
Today outside the Human Rights debates and General Assembly
sessions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad renewed his country’s call “for
reforms in the structure of the United Nations.” According to Press TV, Ahmadinejad
said in a meeting on the sidelines with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:
Effective
steps must be taken toward reforming the structure of the UN in order to
establish a democratic and fair framework in this organization.
United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights
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| All subject to Rule of Law ICC facade |
DEBATE: Human Rights Situation in Palestine, Other Occupied
Arab Territories
[emphases]
Failure of International
Community
Venezuela:
“…The human rights situation in Palestine and the Occupied
Arab Territories has not been resolved in over 60 years.
“For over 40 years, Palestinians have been suffering the
consequences of occupation.
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| 193-Member States UN General Assembly |
“The UN Security Council approach has led to double
standards and duplicity, which entails the violation of international law.
Venezuela reaffirmed its condemnation of “the use of force
against civilians, the blockade of the Gaza strip and the continuation of
settlement activities to the detriment of the enjoyment of rights of the
Palestinian population.”
South Africa:
“… The [UN Security] Council
has yet to live up to its mandate to protect the human rights and fundamental
freedoms of the Palestinian people.
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| 5 permanent member states UN Security Council(China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United States) |
“[While] Palestinian and Israeli non-governmental
organizations have continued to document and report publicly on violations of
human rights and international humanitarian law, in contrast [there has been] deafening
silence and lack of action in the [UN Security] Council.”
Iceland:
Without urgent action, Gaza “no longer livable in 2020”
“…The on-going conflict and occupation represent a failure
of the international community to bring about the change that the Palestinian
people deserve.”
Algeria:
Israel’s continued
failure “to cooperate and implement relevant United Nations resolutions, continued
imposition of a maritime blockade in defiance of international law [leaves] to
the international community [the responsibility] to take measures to bring the
occupying force in line with resolutions, including those by the UN Security Council,
and those stemming from the work of the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza
conflict.”
Challenges
to end Impunity
Union of Arab Jurists:
Most serious of violations by Israel: the suffering of
Palestinian children imprisoned in Israeli prisons
“Even though the decision of Israel to impose its law on the
occupied Syrian Golan has been declared illegitimate by the United Nations,
Israeli occupation has been forcibly displacing Syrians and constructing
illegal settlements in clear violation of international law.”
Defense for Children International:
Fishing boats with children aboard
Since January 2011, 12 incidents involved children “in fishing
boats intercepted by Israeli patrol boats off the coast of Gaza. [While fishing],
the fishermen had reportedly been harassed and humiliated by Israeli patrol
boats, had been fired upon, sprayed with water cannons, detained and
interrogated without any legitimate reason.”
DCI challenged Israel “to respect rights to fish off the
coast of Gaza” and refrain from interrogating fishermen “in violation of its
international obligations.”
Norwegian Refugee Council:
Norwegian Refugee Council:
Israel’s “Cast Lead”-caused displacement of 15,700
“… [More than] 4,000 people in Gaza have been displaced
three times or more due to their inability to reconstruct their homes. During the
same [Cast Lead 15,700] operation, 3,481 homes were destroyed or severely
damaged. Since the end of the campaign, an additional 1,753 houses have been
destroyed.”
Maryam Ghasemi Educational Charity Institute:
Cleansing East Jerusalem
“Israel’s discriminatory policy in East Jerusalem ─ including
the suspension of permits and other strategic tactics aimed at reducing the
number of Palestinians living there ─ violates the basic rights of Palestinian
residents.
Noting consequences of the Israeli State’s making
Palestinian people stateless, the Institute challenged the UN Security Council “to
make Israel observe its international commitments.”
Iran:
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| 5 permanent member states UN Security Council(China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United States) |
“More than known to the international community … [are] the depth
and expanse of gross and systematic violations of human rights of the
Palestinian people by the Israeli regime in total defiance of international
law, numerous United Nations resolutions, and human rights principles.
“It is high time for the Council to more effectively defend
the human rights of the Palestinian people and adopt a firm position and urge
the international community to counter the [Israeli] regime’s policies and
practices against the defenseless Palestinians.”
Maldives:
Climate of impunity in Occupied Territories
“Human rights continued to be denied. Disproportionate use
of force, administrative detentions without prosecution, cruel and harsh
treatment of detainees, deliberate destruction of infrastructure, and growing
illegal settlements persisted.”
Maldives challenged the UN Security Council to maintain
focus “on the plight of the people in the occupied Arab territories,
particularly in the face Israel’s deliberate lack of cooperation, which makes a
mockery of the Council.
“The culture of impunity should end.”
UN Member
States’ convening peace
Cuba:
Israel’s persistence in flouting decisions of the UNSC,
other UN system bodies
“…Decisions of the Council remain applicable and have to be
urgently implemented. The Palestinian nation continues to be deprived of its
most basic rights ─ including the right to self-determination ─ and is subjected
to such living conditions that it might disappear altogether.”
Cuba reaffirmed its support of “the right of Palestine to
become a fully-fledged member of the United Nations.”
Russia:
Israel must cooperate; all force must cease
Noting with alarm the crisis and increasing instability in
the region, rising “acts of violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians
and their property, [Russia] condemned acts of terrorism” and challenged “all
actors in the conflict to refrain from using force.”
Pointing to Israel in particular, Russia challenged it “to
review its decision of refusing to cooperate with the UN Security Council, and
to comply with its responsibilities as an occupying force, including the
implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions.” Once negotiations have resumed, Russia says it
will convene, as its contribution, “a Moscow Summit on Middle East Peace.”
Sources and notes
“Council holds general debate on situation in Palestine and
other occupied Arab territories,” MORNING, September 24, 2012, The Council has
before it the report of the Secretary-General on the progress made in the
implementation of the recommendations of the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza
Conflict A/HRC/21/33, United Nations Human Rights Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12571&LangID=E
Dr. Kyung-wha Kang
Deputy High Commissioner Kyung-wha Kang has been Deputy
High Commissioner for Human Rights since September 15, 2007. Her appointment is at the level of Assistant
Secretary-General.
Before joining the United Nations, Kyung-wha Kang, a
national of the Republic of Korea, was Ambassador for Multilateral Affairs and
Director-General of International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Trade of the Republic. She also served at the Republic of Korea Mission to
the United Nations in New York and chaired the Commission on the Status of
Women for its 48th and 49th sessions in 2004 and 2005.
Before joining the Foreign Service in 1998, Kang worked for
the National Parliament of the Republic of Korea, assisting the Speaker of the
National Assembly in the fields of human rights, women’s advancement and
parliamentary diplomacy. She also worked with a number of women’s organizations
in Korea, including the Korean National Council of Women, which gave her the ‘2006
Women of the Year’ Award; the Korean Association of University Women and the
Korean Institute of Women and Politics. Earlier in her career, she worked
for the Korean Broadcasting System, producing current affairs and cultural
programs for the Radio Korea International and later as English news
writer/caster for bi-lingual television news. She lectured and researched
in universities in Korea and the United States.
Kyung-wha Kang is a graduate of Yonsei University/South
Korea (BA in political sciences and diplomacy); and the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst/USA (MA in mass communication, Ph.D. in intercultural
communication. She was born April 7, 1955, in Seoul, Korea.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/aboutUs/Pages/DeputyhighComm
UN SECURITY COUNCIL
Membership in 2012
The Council is composed of five permanent members (China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States) and ten non-permanent members (with year of term’s end):
Colombia (2012)
Germany (2012)
India (2012)
Portugal (2012)
South Africa (2012)
Azerbaijan (2013)
Guatemala (2013)
Morocco (2013)
Pakistan (2013)
Togo (2013)
The Council is composed of five permanent members (China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States) and ten non-permanent members (with year of term’s end):
Colombia (2012)
Germany (2012)
India (2012)
Portugal (2012)
South Africa (2012)
Azerbaijan (2013)
Guatemala (2013)
Morocco (2013)
Pakistan (2013)
Togo (2013)
The General Assembly elected Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco,
Pakistan and Togo to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for
two-year terms starting on 1 January 2012. The newly elected countries will
replace Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria.
About the Council
THE COUNCIL ALONE HAS THE POWER TO TAKE
DECISIONS WHICH MEMBER STATES ARE OBLIGATED UNDER THE CHARTER TO CARRY OUT.
The Presidency of the Security Council is held in turn by
the members of the Security Council in the English alphabetical order of their
names. Each President holds office for one calendar month.
Ten non-permanent members are elected by the General
Assembly for two-year terms and not eligible for immediate re-election.
The number of non-permanent members was increased from six
to ten by an amendment of the Charter which came into force in 1965.
Each Council member has one vote. Decisions on procedural
matters are made by an affirmative vote of at least nine of the 15 members.
Decisions on substantive matters require nine votes, including the concurring
votes of all five permanent members. This is the rule of "great Power
unanimity", often referred to as the ‘veto’ power.
Under the Charter, all Members of the United Nations agree
to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council.
While other organs of the United Nations make
recommendations to Governments, the Council alone has the power to take
decisions which Member States are obligated under the Charter to carry out.
http://www.un.org/sc/members.asp
http://www.un.org/en/ga/about/index.shtml
http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/67/
http://www.un.org/en/members/
“Iran president renews calls for restructuring of UN,”
September 24, 2012,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/09/24/263282/iran-president-calls-for-un-restructuring/
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