Human rights situation in the OT – SecGen report

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED

ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE

Report of the Secretary-General

1. At its forty-ninth session, the Commission on Human Rights adopted resolution 1993/1 and 1993/2 A and B.  By paragraph 6 of resolution 1993/1, the Commission requested the Secretary-General to bring the resolution to the attention of all Governments, the competent United Nations organs, the specialized agencies, regional intergovernmental organizations and international humanitarian organizations and to give it the widest possible publicity, and to report to the Commission on Human Rights at its fiftieth session.  By paragraph 7 of resolution 1993/2 A and paragraph 6 of resolution 1993/2 B, the Commission requested the Secretary-General to bring the resolution to the attention of the Government of Israel and all other Governments, the competent United Nations organs, the specialized agencies, regional intergovernmental organizations, international humanitarian organizations and non-governmental organizations, to disseminate it on the widest possible scale and to report on progress in its implementation by the Government of Israel to the Commission on Human Rights at its fiftieth session.

2. In accordance with the requests of the Commission, the Secretary-General brought resolutions 1993/1 and 1993/2 A and B to the attention of the Government of Israel and all other Governments, by a note verbale dated 13 April 1993.  They were also communicated to the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories and to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian people.

3. Furthermore, the resolutions were transmitted to all the specialized agencies and to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, as well as to competent regional intergovernmental organizations.  In addition, the resolutions were brought to the attention of international humanitarian organizations and non-governmental organizations.

4. The Department of Public Information undertook the following activities:

(a) The Department of Public Information continued to provide press coverage of all meetings of the Commission on Human Rights, including the deliberations relating to the above-mentioned resolutions;

(b) The quarterly magazine UN Chronicle continued to publish stories relating to Palestinian issues, including human rights of the Palestinian people;

(c) The Department covered various aspects of the question of Palestine and related issues in weekly radio news magazines and feature programmes. Highlights of topics covered included the deportation of 400 Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territory and related action by the Security Council and the Secretary-General, as well as initiatives taken by Arab States and the population in the occupied territories and the debate of the Commission on Human Rights on Israel's decision to deport the Palestinians.  The Department also produced a number of feature programmes devoted to the question of Palestine, including:  "Assistance to the Palestinian people" and "International protection of Palestinian refugees";

(d) DPI continued to distribute its booklet, published in 1992, Life of the Palestinians under Israeli Occupation (DPI/1192).  This booklet used extensively material available in reports of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories;

(e) The Department continued to feature and distribute United Nations information materials, documents and press releases on the question of Palestine, including the above-mentioned resolutions, to representatives of non-governmental organizations;

(f) Coverage of United Nations activities related to the question of Palestine was provided on an ongoing basis by the network of the United Nations information centres and services.  This coverage included the questions addressed in the above-mentioned resolutions.

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