Ref: 71/2021
Date: 28 May 2021
Original Lang.: Arabic
Press release,
ICSPR welcomes the Human Rights Council’s resolution to form an independent international committee to investigate all violations in the occupied Palestinian territories
The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights “ICSPR” welcomed the vote of the Human Rights Council -yesterday “27 May”- on a resolution to establish a permanent independent international investigation committee, to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council to investigate all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law since 13 April 2021.
The resolution was adopted during an extraordinary session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, after 24 countries voted in favor, 13 countries abstained, and 9 countries opposed it. The committee will investigate the underlying causes of recurrent tensions and prolongation of conflict, including systemic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic or religious identity.
ICSPR expresses its optimism for the resolution and considers it a significant step to narrow the scope of international impunity. ICSPR believes that the Israeli criminal behavior against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem, represents the Israeli height of disdain and contempt for international law and action, and it declares its readiness to work with and next to the committee and provides the necessary documents to prove that the Israeli occupation forces have committed crimes that amount to the level of international crimes described in the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. Therefore:
1. ICSPR calls on the international community to adhere to its legal and moral obligations towards ensuring respect for international law, ending the culture of impunity, and responding to the grave violations committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially those committed against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
2. ICSPR urges the international community to stop sacrificing the principles and values of international law, and to work on transforming the resolution into an opportunity to hold the Israeli occupier accountable for its crimes, as an essential step to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination.
3. ICSR demands the Palestinian leadership to exert additional and considerable efforts in order to ensure the optimal use of the outputs and reports of the various international committees and to adopt them as important international documents that contribute to hold the Israeli military and political agents accountable for committing crimes against the Palestinian people.
ICSPR
