Situation in the OPT – Letter from CEIRPP Chairman

Letter dated 4 August 1988 from the Acting Chairman of the

Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the

Palestinian People addressed to the Secretary-General 

In my capacity as Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, I wish to express the Committee's concern at the continued grave situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Armed repression as well as mass arrests and various forms of collective punishment continue to be used indiscriminately against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The toll of Palestinians known to have been killed by Israeli gunfire since December is over 230. The number of Palestinians detained by Israel under inhuman conditions is more than 9,000.

The Committee, in particular, strongly deplores the deportation of eight Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to southern Lebanon, on charges of being involved in inciting recent uprisings in the occupied Palestinian territories, as reported by The New York Times of 2 August 1988. Such deportations are taking place in defiance of Security Council resolutions 607 (1988) and 608 (1988), which strongly requested Israel, the occupying Power, to abide by its obligations under the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, to refrain from deporting any Palestinian civilians from the occupied territories, and to ensure the return of those already deported.

The Committee also strongly deplores the arrest of Faisal Husseini, Director of the Arab Studies Society in Jerusalem, who was given up to six months administrative detention for allegedly participating in the co-ordination of the Palestinian uprising.

The increasing involvement of Israeli settlers in violent attacks against Palestinians is a cause of great concern.  Moreover, measures of collective punishment such as demolishing houses continue to be imposed.  According to AFP and UPI on 2 August 1988, at various locations in the West Bank, during the night, Israeli troops destroyed 10 houses and sealed two others.

In view of the gravity of these developments, the Committee wishes once again to express its utmost concern at these repressive policies and practices by Israel, the occupying Power, which are in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention, international human rights instruments and United Nations resolutions.  These policies and practices pose further obstacles to international efforts to promote a comprehensive, just and lastinq solution to the Palestine question.

The Committee reiterates its appeal to you to take all possible measures for ensuring the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians under occupation, and to intensify your efforts towards the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 38/58 C.

I should be grateful if you would have the text of this letter distributed as a document of the General Assembly, under item 37 of the provisional agenda, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Oscar ORAMAS-OLIVA

Acting Chairman

Committee on the Exercise

of the Inalienable Rights

of the Palestinian People

____________

*A/43/150.