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 53/56 of 3 December 1998, the operative part of which reads as follows:
"The General Assembly,
"…
"1. Determines that all measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, 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 contrary to the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, are illegal and have no validity and that such measures should cease immediately;
"2. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, cease all practices and actions which violate the human rights of the Palestinian people;
"3. Stresses the need to preserve the territorial integrity of all of the occupied Palestinian territory and to guarantee the freedom of movement of persons and goods within the Palestinian territory, including the removal of restrictions on movement into and from East Jerusalem, and the freedom of movement to and from the outside world;
"4. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to accelerate the release of all remaining Palestinians arbitrarily detained or imprisoned, in line with agreements reached;
"5. Calls for complete respect by Israel, the occupying Power, of all fundamental freedoms of the Palestinian people, pending the extension of the self-government arrangements to the rest of the occupied territory;
"6. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session on the implementation of the present resolution."
2. On 28 June 1999, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, in which he requested, in view of his reporting responsibilities under the resolution, that the Minister inform him of any steps his Government had taken or envisaged taking concerning the implementation of the relevant provisions of the resolution.
3. No reply had been received at the time of the preparation of the present report.
