UN Special Cttee on Israel Practices to visit Egypt, Jordan and Syria – UNHCHR press release

UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ISRAELI PRACTICES TO VISIT EGYPT, JORDAN AND SYRIA

3 August 2009

The United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories will visit Egypt from 4 to 7 August; Jordan from 7 to 11 August; and Syria from 11 to 14 August 2009.

“It is crucial for the Special Committee to ascertain the extent to which the Israeli war on Gaza early this year has adversely and negatively affected the Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories”, said its acting chairman, Hamidon Ali, Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations in New York.

“The Special Committee, of course, will have to take into account the findings of the several other investigations conducted in the aftermath of the war on Gaza by other bodies and investigative teams in formulating its recommendations to the General Assembly”, stressed Ambassador Ali

Since its establishment in 1968, the Special Committee has repeatedly been denied cooperation by the Government of Israel or access to the occupied Palestinian territories. It has nonetheless benefited from the cooperation and information provided by representatives from the Governments of countries visited, and many witnesses from Israel and the occupied territories.

The information gathered during these hearings, from witnesses having first-hand and recent experience of the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, from Governmental representatives, and from a wide range of other interlocutors, is taken into account in the Special Committee's reports to the General Assembly. Its conclusions contain an evaluation of the situation as well as recommendations. (The report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories of 13 August 2008 is available at: http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N08/459/12/PDF/N0845912.pdf?OpenElement.) 

Ambassador Ali currently chairs the Special Committee, due to the absence of the Sri Lankan Ambassador. Senegal is represented by Ambassador Babacar Mbaye, Permanent Representative of that country to the United Nations in Geneva, while Samantha Yajasuriya, counsellor at the Sri Lankan Mission to the United Nations in New York, is representing her country.

For use of information media; not an official record

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