Human rights situation in the OPT – CHR – Summary record

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Forty-ninth session

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 10th MEETING

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva,

on Monday, 8 February 1993, at 10 a.m.

CONTENTS

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE (continued)

THE RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION AND ITS APPLICATION TO PEOPLES UNDER COLONIAL OR ALIEN DOMINATION OR FOREIGN OCCUPATION (continued)

The meeting was called to order at 10.15 a.m.

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE (continued)  (E/CN.4/1993/3-E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/42, E/CN.4/1993/6-E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/49, E/CN.4/1993/9, 12, 13, 70 to 74 to 81; A/47/76, A/47/262 and 509; S/25149)

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11. Mr. TABIBI (World Islamic Call Society) noted that the principle of self-determination was one of the basic principles of jus cogens. …

12. That right was not immutable, however; it was shaped and evolved according to the needs of mankind at various stages of history.  The right of self-determination was the cornerstone of decolonization.  Just like slavery, genocide and apartheid, denial of the right to self-determination for political or economic reasons was regarded as a serious international crime.  It could be considered that that right was denied to peoples of Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Africa.

13. The World Islamic Call Society deplored the fact that those who suffered most from violations of human rights and the right to self-determination were Muslims, whether in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Palestine, Burma, Africa, Somalia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia or other parts of the world. …

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18. Mr. KOTHARI (Habitat International Coalition) said that, although the planning process and related settlement and housing policies might not seem directly relevant to human rights and situation of occupation and colonial domination, they were nevertheless related to the protection of human rights and the right of peoples to self-determination.  That was precisely why China and Israel had accorded planning policies such as a key role within their strategies designed to suppress the legitimate demands of the Tibetan and Palestinian peoples.  Indeed, for millions of Tibetans and Palestinians, the planning system had meant the destruction of their houses, the implantation of hundred of thousands if not millions of settlers and, consequently, a considerable reduction in their possibilities of participating in the development of their homeland.  China and Israel were using the tool of planning to establish settlements, which entailed population transfers, confiscation of land, demolitions, expulsions and the destruction of housing, restrictions on residence permits etc. to stifle the right of Tibetans and Palestinians to determine their own destiny.  The population transfer policy, which was contrary to article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention that the Chinese and Israeli Governments had ratified, was practised systematically in the occupied territories of Palestine and Tibet.  Should the Israeli Government continue to ignore the many appeals by the United Nations to halt the implantation of settlers in the occupied territories, there would be over 500,000 Israeli settlers beyond the "green line" by 1995.  …

19. Population transfers and illegal settlement and construction policies were essentially inseparable.  The Israeli Housing Ministry intended housing over 400,000 persons in the West Bank within the next four years.  In 1990, 100 units had been constructed for Arabs, whereas almost 20,000 had been built for the Jewish sector, thereby exposing the existence of discriminatory practices in violation of the housing rights obligations Israel had assumed under Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. …

20. Furthermore, between 1989 and 1991, 1,648 Arab homes have been destroyed in the West Bank and Gaza and 260,000 house demolition orders had been served inside the "green line" in violation of article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.  …  The sealing of houses or the arbitrary eviction of the occupants as punitive measures for the expression of political views were further common features of Israeli and Chinese practices.  The right to choose one's residence was flouted both in Tibet as well as Palestine.  …  The Israeli authorities were resettling the Palestinians in enclaves around the West Bank in a manner that reflected the "Bantustan" system in South Africa.  Under the Markovitz plan of 1986, 176 Arab villages situated within the borders of the State of Israel were earmarked for demolition.  …

21. Israel and China were therefore systematically violating many of the principles embodied in the Fourth Geneva Convention.  While five Security Council resolutions, 15 General Assembly resolutions and numerous others had condemned Jewish settlement in the occupied territories, China's policy in Tibet had escaped the attention of the international community.

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The meeting rose at 1 p.m.