HRC report on human rights situation in the OPT – GA debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

General Assembly 

Sixty-eighth session 

52nd plenary meeting 

Wednesday, 13 November 2013, 10 a.m. 

New York 

The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m. 

 Agenda item 64

Report of the Human Rights Council

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Mr. AlSaleh (Kuwait) (spoke in Arabic): …

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We also condemn Israel’s illegal settlement activities and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories and its continued human rights violations against the Palestinian people through restrictions on their freedom of movement, the confiscation of land, the destruction of their homes and the imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians in conditions that breach basic human rights law. Israel also imposes an unjust blockade on Gaza in breach of human rights and the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. The international community should therefore shoulder its responsibilities and compel Israel to fulfil its obligations under international law.

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Ms. Najwa (Maldives):  …

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As described in the report of the Human Rights Council, the year 2013 has been an eventful one, with the escalation of violence and the deterioration in the human rights situations in various corners of the world. Whether those violations of human rights are a result of civil war in Syria, occupation in the Palestinian and Arab territories or ethnic and communal tensions elsewhere, we call on all parties involved to cease all ongoing violence and to engage in dialogue aimed at reaching a lasting peace. We also encourage countries undergoing transition to work towards substantive reforms, strengthen democratic institutions and ensure the protection of their people from all forms of abuse.

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Sheikha Al-Thani (Qatar) (spoke in Arabic):  …

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There are many items on the agenda of the Human Rights Council, especially concerning the Arab world. Unfortunately, the human rights situation in our region, especially in the Palestinian territories, has not witnessed any improvement. Despite repeated calls for the Israeli authorities to promote the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Palestinian people, its officials continue to allow illegal practices that violate international humanitarian law and international law. Those include the oppressive detention and imprisonment of Palestinians, including children, and the demolition of homes. We are concerned about the suffocation of the Palestinian economy and the fact that Palestinians are being deprived of water, in blatant violation of international law, especially the relevant Security Council resolutions. The deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and Israeli coercive measures and practices increase the hardship and suffering of Palestinian refugees. That should serve to remind the international community of the importance of our full support to the Palestinian people and the call for righting the historic injustice to which they have been subjected.

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Mr. Haniff (Malaysia): …

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Thirdly, Malaysia welcomes the Council’s continued attention to the human rights situation of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory. We must never forget that the core issue for the Palestinians is their inalienable right to statehood. Malaysia calls for the realization of the right of the Palestinians to self-determination through a final solution to the conflict that would ensure the creation of two States living side by side in peace and security and based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital for the Palestinian State. We urge the Council to continue to press on the issue and to ensure that Palestinians are afforded their basic rights as human beings, including their right to an independent State.

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Mr. Ja’afari (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic): …

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We have read the Human Rights Council’s report (A/68/53) very closely and with great interest. The report touches on a series of matters that are extremely important, particularly with regard to violations of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including the occupied Syrian Golan and the occupied Palestinian territories. Forty-five years have passed since the unjust Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan. In spite of the Council’s call on Israel, the occupying Power, to implement the resolutions of all United Nations bodies and agencies — including, of course, the Commission on Human Rights, which became the Human Rights Council — Israel continues to defy the will of Member States. Israel refuses to adhere to the hundreds of such resolutions. The Israeli authorities have perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity, and they expressly claim those crimes with no sense of accountability or punishment. They do so despite numerous questions from international public officials and certain capitals regarding the Israeli exception: the reasons for Israel not being subject to prosecution and not being brought to justice.

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Mr. Mahmoud (Egypt): …

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… We also commend the Council on its work in promoting the protection of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan, as well as in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization based on religion or belief.

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This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-506. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum.