CHR/61st session – Second day of high-level segment – Press release (excerpts)

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS STARTS SECOND DAY OF HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT

Hears from Dignitaries from Finland, Armenia, OIC, Mauritania, Yemen, Albania, OSCE, Mexico, Indonesia, Netherlands and Cyprus

The Commission on Human Rights this morning started the second day of its high-level segment, hearing from dignitaries from Finland, Armenia, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Mauritania, Yemen, Albania, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Mexico, Indonesia, the Netherlands and Cyprus.

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EKMELEDDIN IHSANOGLU, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, …

The Commission, under the terms of reference drawn up for it since its inception, had been following up one of the most tragic issues of human rights violations, the question of Palestine, where the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination had been denied and where the Palestinian people were still enduring the ordeal of the occupation of their territories and of the illegitimate practices that went against all international norms and humanitarian law, some of which were classified in the category of war crimes and state terrorism. The exactions perpetrated by the Israeli army included assassinations, extrajudiciary killings, the demolition of homes, the blockades, and continued building of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, among other things. In Iraq, despite the progress achieved at the political level, the humanitarian and security situation remained a matter of great concern.

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