Human rights situation in the OT – CHR – NGO statement (excerpts)

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

 Written statement* submitted by Pax Christi International,

a non-governmental organization in special consultative status

The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.

[28 January 2003]

____________

*This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from the submitting non-governmental organization(s).

Written Intervention by Pax Christi International

The Pax Christi International movement was started in 1945 to promote reconciliation at the end of the Second World War and is active worldwide. Through this network, it aims to help resolve conflict situations worldwide and remove the causes of potential conflict. Economic, social and cultural rights are frequently lacking today. For example, in Iraq, ten years of sanctions have caused grave economic suffering to Iraqi people, mostly children and other disadvantaged groups. In Occupied Palestinian Territories, Palestinian people have been for decades deprived of their most fundamental economic, social and cultural rights, namely to govern themselves in their own land. In this connection, Pax Christi strongly supports efforts for a peaceful solution to the issue of Iraq and for a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

/…

With respect to Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pax Christi rejects the logic of violence. It condemns suicide bombings, the acquisition of territory by force, reaffirms the rights of peoples to self-determination, urges the dismantling of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and arrangements for the right of return for refugees, and calls upon all parties to respect relevant United Nations resolutions and the Geneva Conventions.  

/…

—–