Human rights situation in occupied Syrian territory – CHR resolution

II. RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS ADOPTED BY THE

    COMMISSION AT ITS FORTY-FIRST SESSION

1985/2. Human rights situation in occupied Syrian territory 1/

The Commission on Human Rights,

Gravely concerned at the fact that Israel is continuing its occupation of the Arab territories, including Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights, in spite of all the condemnations of Israel that have been expressed due to that occupation,

Recalling its resolution 1984/2 of 20 February 1984,

Noting with severe disapproval, having considered the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories,2/ the deteriorating situation in the occupied Arab territories,

Recalling the resolution adopted by the 71st Inter-Parliamentary Conference, held at Geneva from 2 to 7 April 1984, which condemned all Israeli policies and practices relating to the annexation of occupied Arab territories in Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights,

Recalling World Health Assembly resolution WHA37.26 of 17 May 1984,3/ which condemned Israel for its continuing occupation of the Arab territories, including Palestine, and its continuing arbitrary practices against the Arab population,

Reaffirming that the acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible under the Charter of the United Nations, the principles of international law and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974, in which the Assembly defined an act of aggression, inter alia, as "the invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof" and provided that "no consideration of whatever nature, whether political, economic, military or otherwise, may serve as a justification for aggression",

Recalling Security Council resolution 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and General Assembly resolutions 36/226 B of 17 December 1981, ES-9/1 of 5 February 1982, 37/88 E of 10 December 1982, 37/123 A of 16 December 1982, 38/79 D of 15 December 1983 and 39/146 B of 14 December 1984, relating to the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights and the imposition of its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian territory,

Reaffirming once more that the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,4/ continues to apply to the Syrian territory that has been occupied since 1967,

1. Resolutely condemns Israel for its persistent failure to comply with, and its defiance of, Security Council resolution 497 (1981) and all other resolutions relating to the Syrian Golan Heights adopted by the General Assembly and other United Nations bodies, and strongly deprecates Israel's annexation of the occupied Syrian territory;

2. Declares once more that Israel's decision of 14 December 1981 to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which has resulted in the effective annexation of this territory, is null and void, has no international legal validity or effect, constitutes a grave violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations and is an affront to the international community;

3. Strongly deplores the negative vote and pro-Israeli position of a permanent member of the Security Council which prevented the Council from adopting against Israel, under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the "appropriate measures" referred to in resolution 497 (1981), adopted unanimously by the Security Council;

4. Deplores the inhuman treatment, terror and practices contrary to human rights which the Israeli occupation authorities continue to apply against Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights by reason of their refusal of Israeli nationality and in order to force them to carry Israeli identity cards, which practices constitute a flagrant violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and the relevant resolutions adopted by the Security Council, the General Assembly and other international bodies and also constitute a threat to peace and international security;

5. Reaffirms its request to all States Members of the United Nations not to recognize any jurisdiction, laws or measures established by Israel in respect of occupied Syrian and other Arab territories;

6. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to rescind without delay its decision of 14 December 1981 and to cease its acts of terrorism directed against Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights in order to impose Israeli citizenship upon them and force them to carry Israeli identity cards, emphasizes that Israel must allow the evacuees from among the Golan population to return to their homes and to recover their property and

residences occupied by Israel since 1967, and firmly emphasizes the overriding necessity of the total and unconditional withdrawal by Israel from all Palestinian and Syrian territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, which is an essential prerequisite for the establishment of a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East;

7. Decides to place on the provisional agenda of its forty-second session as a matter of high priority the item entitled "Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine".

Notes

1/ Adopted at the 21st meeting, on 19 February 1985, by a roll-call vote of 30 to 1, with 10 abstentions.  See chap. IV.

2/ A/39/591.

3/ World Health Organization, Thirty-seventh World Health Assembly, Geneva, 7-17

May 1984, Resolutions and Decisions (WHA37/1984/REC/1), Geneva, 1984.

4/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973, p. 287.