Work of the SpCttee to investigate Israeli practices – GA resolution

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 11 December 2013 

[on the report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(Fourth Committee) (A/68/425)] 

 The General Assembly, 

 Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, 

 Guided also by international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,¹ as well as international standards of human rights, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights² and the International Covenants on Human Rights,³

 Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolutions 2443 (XXIII) of 19 December 1968 and 67/118 of 18 December 2012, and the relevant resolutions of the Human Rights Council, including resolution S-12/1, adopted by the Council at its twelfth special session on 16 October 2009,⁴

 Recalling also the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, 

 Taking into account the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,⁵ and recalling in this regard its resolution ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004, 

Recalling its resolution 58/292 of 6 May 2004,

Taking note of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,⁶

 Convinced that occupation itself represents a gross and grave violation of human rights, 

 Gravely concerned about the continuing detrimental impact of ongoing unlawful Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, including the excessive use of force by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians, resulting in the death and injury of civilians, the widespread destruction of property and vital infrastructure, ongoing settlement activities and construction of the wall, the internal forced displacement of civilians, the imposition of collective punishment measures, particularly against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, where continuing severe restrictions on movement amount to a blockade, and the detention and imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians, 

 Gravely concerned also about all acts of violence, intimidation and provocation by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and properties, including homes, mosques, churches and agricultural lands, 

 Gravely concerned in particular by reports regarding serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law committed during the military operations in the Gaza Strip between December 2008 and January 2009, including the findings in the summary by the Secretary-General of the report of the Board of Inquiry⁷ and in the report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict,⁸ and reiterating the necessity for serious follow-up by all parties to the recommendations addressed to them towards ensuring accountability and justice, 

 Gravely concerned about the loss of life and injury among civilians, including women and children, during the military operations in the Gaza Strip between 14 and 22 November 2012, 

 Having considered the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories⁹ and the relevant reports of the Secretary-General,¹⁰

 Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of 13 September 1993¹¹ and the subsequent implementation agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, 

 Stressing the urgency of bringing a complete end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and thus an end to the violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people, and of allowing for the realization of their inalienable human rights, including their right to self-determination and their independent State, 

 Taking note of the application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations, submitted on 23 September 2011,¹²

 Recalling its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012, by which, inter alia, Palestine was accorded non-member observer State status in the United Nations, and taking note of the follow-up report of the Secretary-General,¹³

 Taking note of the resumption, on 29 July 2013, of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, aimed at resolving all core final status issues, and expressing the hope for their success in the conclusion of a final, just and comprehensive peace agreement within the agreed nine-month time frame, 

 1.  Commends the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories for its efforts in performing the tasks assigned to it by the General Assembly and for its impartiality; 

 2.  Reiterates its demand that Israel, the occupying Power, cooperate, in accordance with its obligations as a State Member of the United Nations, with the Special Committee in implementing its mandate; 

 3.  Deplores those policies and practices of Israel that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories, as reflected in the report of the Special Committee covering the reporting period;⁹ 

 4.  Expresses grave concern about the critical situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the Gaza Strip, as a result of unlawful Israeli practices and measures, and especially condemns and calls for the immediate cessation of all illegal Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the wall, as well as the excessive and indiscriminate use of force against the civilian population, settler violence, the destruction and confiscation of properties, the forced displacement of civilians, all measures of collective punishment, and the detention and imprisonment of thousands of civilians; 

 5.  Requests the Special Committee, pending complete termination of the Israeli occupation, to continue to investigate Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, especially Israeli violations of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,¹ and to consult, as appropriate, with the International Committee of the Red Cross according to its regulations in order to ensure that the welfare and human rights of the peoples of the occupied territories are safeguarded and to report to the Secretary-General as soon as possible and whenever the need arises thereafter; 

 6.  Also requests the Special Committee to submit regularly to the Secretary-General periodic reports on the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem; 

 7.  Further requests the Special Committee to continue to investigate the treatment and status of the thousands of prisoners and detainees, including children and women, in Israeli prisons and detention centres in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, and expresses grave concern about harsh conditions and ill-treatment of prisoners and recent hunger strikes, while taking note of the agreement reached in May 2012 concerning conditions of detention in Israeli prisons and calling for its full and immediate implementation; 

 8.  Requests the Secretary-General: 

 (a)  To provide the Special Committee with all necessary facilities, including those required for its visits to the occupied territories, so that it may investigate the Israeli policies and practices referred to in the present resolution; 

 (b)  To continue to make available such staff as may be necessary to assist the Special Committee in the performance of its tasks; 

 (c)  To circulate regularly to Member States the periodic reports mentioned in paragraph 6 above; 

 (d)  To ensure the widest circulation of the reports of the Special Committee and of information regarding its activities and findings, by all means available, through the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat and, where necessary, to reprint those reports of the Special Committee that are no longer available; 

 (e)  To report to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session on the tasks entrusted to him in the present resolution; 

 9.  Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-ninth session the item entitled “Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories”. 

Notes

¹  United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.

²  Resolution 217 A (III).

³  Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.

⁴ See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 53A (A/64/53/Add.1), chap. I.

⁵  See A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1.

⁶ A/HRC/22/63.

⁷  A/63/855-S/2009/250.

⁸  A/HRC/12/48.

⁹ A/68/379.

¹⁰A/68/313, A/68/355, A/68/378, A/68/502 and A/68/513.

¹¹  A/48/486-S/26560, annex.

¹²  A/66/371-S/2011/592.

¹³ A/67/738.

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