Human rights situation in the OT – CHR fifty-fourth session – SecGen report

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED

ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE

Report of the Secretary-General

1. At its fifty-third session, the Commission on Human Rights adopted resolution 1997/2 entitled Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan.  By paragraph 6 of resolution 1997/2, the Commission requested the Secretary-General to bring that 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 fifty-fourth session.

2. In accordance with the requests of the Commission, the Secretary-General brought resolution 1997/2 to the attention of all Governments, by a note verbale dated 18 June 1997.  It was 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 resolution was transmitted to all the specialized agencies and to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.  In addition, the resolution was brought to the attention of competent regional intergovernmental organizations and international humanitarian organizations.

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

(a)  The Department of Public Information continued to provide press coverage of the meetings of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.  Extensive press and audio-visual coverage was also provided for the meetings of the Commission on Human Rights.  The methods used by the Department to provide this coverage included production of press releases, publications, television news packages and radio programmes, and organizing press briefings and briefings for the public;

(b)  The Department continued to disseminate United Nations information materials, documents and press releases on the activities of the Special Committee and the Commission on Human Rights through the global network of United Nations Information Centres and Services in 69 countries, the 359 depository libraries in 141 countries and electronically through the Internet.  The Department also continued to make information materials available to NGOs through its Resource Centres in New York and Geneva;

(c)  DPI provided press coverage to the Special Committee's field mission to Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic from 30 May to 9 June 1997.  Press releases about the activities of the Committee were issued at Headquarters and United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Geneva and the United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) in Cairo and Amman, and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) assisted with media coverage during the Committee's mission in that region.

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