Human rights situation in southern Lebanon/Bekaa – CHR debate – Press release (excerpts)

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS CONTINUES GENERAL DEBATE

ON VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AROUND WORLD

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 15 April (UN Information Service) — The violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms around the world was again the focus of debate as the Commission on Human Rights met this evening in extended session.

Government delegations and non-governmental organizations made allegations of abuses in specific countries, eliciting in several cases responses from States targeted.

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Statements in Debate

AMINE EL KHAZEN (Lebanon) said Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon was a flagrant violation of human rights law on its own, but was in fact accompanied by other violations, such as heavy artillery bombardments, air raids, tank and missile attacks, all causing a large number of civilian casualties; thousands of families were displaced and infrastructure was destroyed. Israel justified its military operations by saying they were a matter of self-defence against the Lebanese resistance while forgetting that the resistance was the result of their occupation. Israel was trying to destroy the rehabilitation of the Lebanese economy; it was kidnapping civilians of late, throwing even young boys in prison, and torturing detainees; Israel's latest proposal to accept Security Council resolution 425 (1978) and withdraw from south Lebanon in return for security arrangements was a derogation of the resolution which required immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal.

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GHASSAN NSEIR (Syria) said Israel had been occupying south Lebanon and the western Bekaa for 20 years despite Security Council resolution 425 (1978), which called on Israel to immediately withdraw from those territories. Israel continued to hold hundreds of Lebanese citizens without trial, using them as hostages or bargaining chips in negotiations. Torture, both physical and mental, was practiced. Israel also bombed unarmed civilians in villages to depopulate whole regions. Despite all those human rights violations, Israel was proud of its so-called "democracy", which was based on violations of international instruments and United Nations resolutions. Given such facts, the Commission must condemn Israeli activities.

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