Israeli practices/Work of SpCttee – SecGen report

Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices

Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and

Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories

Report of the Secretary-General

1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 53/53 of 3 December 1998, paragraph 8 of which reads as follows:

"The General Assembly,

"…

"8. Requests the Secretary-General:

"(a) To provide the Special Committee with all necessary facilities, including those required for its visits to the occupied territories, so that it may investigate the Israeli policies and practices referred to in the present resolution;

"(b) To continue to make available such additional staff as may be necessary to assist the Special Committee in the performance of its tasks;

"(c) To circulate regularly to Member States the periodic reports mentioned in paragraph 6 above;

"(d) To ensure the widest circulation of the reports of the Special Committee and of information regarding its activities and findings, by all means available, through the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat and, where necessary, to reprint those reports of the Special Committee that are no longer available;

"(e) To report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session on the tasks entrusted to him in the present resolution."

2. All necessary facilities were provided to the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. Arrangements were made for the Committee to meet in March, May and August 1999. Furthermore, the Special Committee carried out a field mission to Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic in May 1999. Periodic reports and the thirty-first report of the Special Committee will be circulated to Member States.

3. Pursuant to paragraph 8 (d) of resolution 53/53, the Department of Public Information undertook the following activities:

(a) The Department of Public Information continued to provide press coverage of the meetings of the Special Committee. Extensive press and audio-visual coverage was also provided for the meetings of the Commission on Human Rights. The methods used by the Department to provide this coverage included production of press releases, publications, television news packages and radio programmes and the organization of press briefings and briefings for the public.

(b) The Department continued to disseminate United Nations information materials, documents and press releases on the activities of the Special Committee and the Commission on Human Rights through the global network of United Nations information centres and services in 67 countries, the 357 depository libraries in 142 countries and through the Internet. The Department also continued to make information materials available to non-governmental organizations through its Resource Centres in New York, Geneva and Vienna.

(c) The Department, through its information centres, provided support to the Special Committee's field mission to Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic from 18 to 29 May 1999.

4. It should be also noted that, on 28 June 1999, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to all States drawing attention to resolutions 53/53, 53/54, 53/55, 53/56 and 53/57 of 3 December 1998.

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*A/54/150.

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