REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE
ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS
OF THE POPULATION OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Report of the Secretary-General
(in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 41/63 F)
1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 41/63 F of 3 December 1986, the operative part of which reads as follows:
2. In order to fulfil his reporting responsibility under the resolution, the Secretary-General, on 23 January 1987, addressed to the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations a note verbale in which he requested that the Permanent Representative inform him of any steps which the Government of Israel had taken or envisaged taking in implementation of the relevant provisions of the resolution.
3. On 17 June 1987, the Permanent Representative of Israel replied that the position of his Government on the resolution had been the subject of a letter by the Permanent Representative of Israel dated 29 December 1981, addressed to the Secretary-General, which had been included in the Secretary-General's report of 31 December 1981 (S/14821, para. 3).
4. In light of paragraph 5 of the resolution, the Secretary-General, on 23 January 1987, also addressed notes verbales to the Permanent Representatives of all other Member States, in which he referred to his reporting responsibility under the resolution and requested them to inform him of any measures their Governments had taken or envisaged taking in implementation of the resolution. The relevant parts of the replies received from the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, Iraq, Kuwait and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are reproduced in the annex to the present report.
ANNEX
Replies received from Member States
BYELORUSSIAN SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLIC
[Original: Russian]
[2 June 1987]
1. The position of the Byelorussian SSR on the question of Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the population of the occupied territories is contained in a number of official United Nations documents, in particular document A/41/455/Add.l, and has also been expressed in many statements made by representatives of the Byelorussian SSR in United Nations bodies. The essence of that position is that the Byelorussian SSR, which resolutely condemns the expansionist policy and illegal actions of the Israeli authorities in the occupied Arab territories, unwaveringly supports and strictly observes the provisions of the General Assembly resolutions on that issue. This applies also in full measure to resolution 41/63 A to G, adopted by the General Assembly at at its forty-first session.
2. The Byelorrusian SSR believes that Israel's practices in the occupied Arab territories, including all the legislative and administrative measures it takes in order to change the physical character, demographic composition and status of of those territories, including East Jerusalem, are a gross violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, and the relevant United Nations resolutions. Such practices pose serious obstacles to the attainment of a just and comprehensive Middle East settlement and the establishment of a lasting peace in that region.
3. Acting in full accordance with United Nations resolutions, and in particular with paragraph 16 of General Assembly resolution 41/63 D, the Byelorussian SSR does not recognize any changes carried out by Israel in the occupied territories and does not undertake any actions, including those in the field of aid, which might be used by Israel in its pursuit of the policies of annexation and colonization or any other illegal policies or practices. In that connection, the Byelorussian SSR fully supports the General Assembly's request, contained in paragraph 21 of resolution 41/63 D, that the Security Council should initiate measures to halt Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Arab territories.
4. It is no secret to anyone that Israel would not dare to commit such gross violations of the universally recognized norms of international law, the principles of the Charter and United Nations decisions without the comprehensive support of its "strategic ally", the United States of America, which considers the Middle East as a testing ground for shaping its imperial policies.
5. Like the overwhelming majority of States Members of the United Nations, the Byelorussian SSR believes that a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East can be attained only through the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all the Arab territories which have been occupied since 1967, through the implementation of the legitimate national rights of the Arab people of Palestine, including its right to self-determination and to create its own independent State and the right of Palestinians to return to their homes in accordance with United Nations decisions, and through guaranteeing the right of all States and peoples of the region to a secure and independent existence and development.
6. The attainment of a comprehensive and just settlement in the Middle East is possible only through collective efforts. There is one principal means of achieving this – by convening an International Conference on the Middle East with the participation of all interested parties, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. A practical step in that direction would be the implementation of the Soviet proposal to establish a preparatory committee with the participation of all permanent members of the Security Council. That proposal received support from the General Assembly, the Eighth Conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the Fifth Islamic Summit Conference held in Kuwait.
CYPRUS
[Original: English]
[20 March 1987]
With regard to the Israeli practices in the occupied Arab territories affecting the human rights of the population of the occupied territories, the policy of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus is in full accord with the provisions of General Assembly resolution 41/63 A to G of 30 December 1986.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
[Original: English]
[18 May 1987]
1. The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic resolutely condemns all illegal practices of Israel in the occupied Arab territories, applied in blatant disregard of the relevant United Nations resolutions and aimed at forcibly changing the nature and status of those territories. We follow with great concern the continuing endeavours to colonize the Arab soil as well as other steps of the Israeli Government obviously aimed at an annexation of the occupied Arab territories.
This policy of Israel, deliberately violating one of the basic principles of international law – the principle of non-admissibility of acquiring a territory by force – constitutes a grave menace to peace and security not only in the Middle East area, but on a world-wide scale.
2. We regard it necessary to oppose resolutely the terror and violence which the Israeli occupational authorities use to suppress the natural and substantiated resistance of the Arab people of Palestine, of the people of the annexed Golan Heights, of the occupied East Jerusalem and of the occupied Southern Lebanon, and that have been elevated by Israel on the level of State policy. It is a duty of the entire world community to intensify its efforts in the interest of stopping these inhuman practices which contradict even the basic notion of the rights of civilians in times of hostilities as stipulated by the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949.
3. The basic prerequisite for success in the efforts to render impossible the present practices of the Israeli Government against the people of the occupied Arab lands is adherence to all measures against Israel as contained in the relevant General Assembly resolutions, including a discontinuation of relations with and of all kinds of assistance to this State.
4. The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic is convinced that it is necessary in the interest of justice and elimination of a dangerous hotbed of tension in the Middle East that Israel unconditionally withdraw its military units from all Arab territories occupied in June 1967. Israel must also abandon the eastern part of Jerusalem as well as the illegally annexed Golan Heights. The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic regards the implementation of all national rights of the Arab people of Palestine, including the right to self-determination and establishment of their own independent State, as an essential condition of a just, peaceful and lasting settlement in the Middle East. In the interest of resolving the Middle East conflict the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic fully endorses the proposals for convening an international Middle East conference under the auspices of the United Nations with the participation of all parties concerned, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well as the proposal for setting up a preparatory committee of this conference comprising the permanent members of the Security Council.
ECUADOR
[Original: Spanish]
[6 April 1987]
In keeping with the policy which it has traditionally maintained, Ecuador does not recognize the occupation of territories by force, and consequently holds the view that all States illegally occupying territories that do not belong to them must abide by United Nations resolutions and withdraw from such territories. The Government of Ecuador therefore hopes that General Assembly resolution 41/63 will be fully respected by the States directly involved in the conflict in the Middle East so that the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 can be effectively implemented to protect the civilian population in the Arab territories occupied by Israel. In addition, the Ecuadorian Government will continue to pursue its policy of providing continuing support for United Nations efforts to protect the rights of the Arab population of those territories.
EGYPT
[Original: Arabic]
[27 May 1987]
The Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt reaffirms its steadfast position on the necessity of ensuring respect for the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949 in the Palestinian and Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, non-recognition of any changes in the demographic or geographical character of the occupied territories and rejection of the policy of annexation or any administrative measures taken by the occupation authorities in the occupied territories.
GHANA
[Original: English]
[1 April 1987]
As a national policy, Ghana has no diplomatic or trade relations with Israel. Ghana also consistently maintains a position that the part of Jerusalem occupied by Israel in 1967 as well as the West Bank, the Gaza and the Golan Heights constitute occupied territories to which the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War are applicable. Furthermore, it is the view of Ghana that Israel should withdraw from the occupied Arab territories and that, pending its withdrawal, it is incumbent upon Israel as the occupation Power to adhere strictly to the 1949 Geneva Convention and should desist from the excessive use of force and physical harassment of the civilian populations, particularly students of the occupied Arab territories.
IRAQ
[Original: Arabic]
[31 March 1987]
The reply of the Iraqi Government with regard to the resolutions of the forty-first session concerning the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the population of the Occupied Territories is the same reply that we gave to the Secretariat in response to its letters of 5 May 1986 (see A/41/453, annex, and A/41/455, annex) , because of the continuation of the same Israeli practices against the population of the occupied Arab territories.
KUWAIT
[Original: Arabic]
[18 March 1987]
1. Since Kuwait is one of the Arab States members of the Arab League Council and committed to the resolutions of the Arab League Council and the Arab summits relative to the Palestinian problem, Kuwait considers the Zionist entity a usurping entity opposed to all international principles, laws and customs on which the United Nations and the laws of human rights are based. In its aggressive practices and expansionist and settlement policies and plans in the occupied Arab territories, the Zionist entity not only violates the provisions of the Geneva Convention but also rejects all the foundations on which the world community stands.
2. Thus, Kuwait does not maintain any kind of relations with the Zionist entity, and adheres to the boycott of it in all spheres. Kuwait also calls continuously upon the United Nations to take firm measures to deter this entity and to force it to yield to the international will as manifested in the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, including General Assembly resolution 41/63 A to G, most of which are addressed to Israel itself and to States that have close relations with it as well as those States that support it and provide it with the political, economic and military assistance that encourages it to go on violating human rights in the occupied Arab territories.
3. Hence, Kuwait can only emphasize the call to the concerned States to fulfil their commitments to the maintenance of international peace and security through the adoption of all measures necessary for the implementation of the provisions contained in General Assembly resolutions and for compelling the Zionist entity by all possible means to adhere to them.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
[Original: Russian]
[4 August 1987]
1. The Soviet Union fully supports the strong condemnation in General Assembly resolution 41/63 of Israel's annexationist and illegal policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, and the gross and massive violations of the human rights of the population of these territories.
2. The Soviet Union fully shares the General Assembly's conclusion that Israel's actions in the occupied territories are in violation of the relevant provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, and constitute a serious obstacle to the efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
3. In line with the call made by the General Assembly, the Soviet Union does not recognize any changes carried out by Israel in the occupied territories and is not taking any action which might be used by Israel in its pursuit of the policies of annexation or colonization of those territories.
4. There is absolutely no doubt that the reason for Israelis defiant conduct, in gross violation of the norms of international law, the Charter of the united Nations and decisions of the Organization, lies in the wide-ranging support received from its "strategic partner" – the United States of America.
5. The USSR is in solidarity with the Arab peoples who refuse to recognize the occupation of their territory, and it supports their struggle for their national rights – political, economic, legal and humanitarian. The Soviet Union believes that the General Assembly is fully justified in calling upon the Security Council to initiate measures to halt Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Arab territories.
6. The Soviet Union is convinced that a genuine settlement in the Middle East can be assured only through the collective efforts of all the parties concerned, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, on the basis of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all the Arab territories occupied since 1967, the exercise by the Arab people of Palestine of their inalienable national rights to self-determination and the establishment of an independent State, and the guarantee of the right of all States of the region to security and independent existence and development. It is precisely within the framework of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East, the convening of which was supported at the forty-first session of the General Assembly by the overwhelming majority of States Members of the United Nations that a just settlement of the entire range of Middle East problems can be achieved. At the present stage, a move to practical steps in preparation for this Conference would be of crucial significance in this matter.
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Document Type: Report
Document Sources: General Assembly, Secretary-General, Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices
Subject: Agenda Item, Human rights and international humanitarian law, Palestine question
Publication Date: 10/08/1987