HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS SAYS SHE HOPES TO GO
TO OCCUPIED TERRITORIES AS SOON AS VISIT CAN BE ARRANGED
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said today her Office is examining the implications of the resolution on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories passed on 19 October by the Commission on Human Rights during its fifth Special Session.
The resolution calls, among other things, for the setting up of a human rights inquiry commission and for the High Commissioner to visit the territories.
The Commission has also requested the United Nations Economic and Social Council to meet on an urgent basis in order to act on the proposals contained in the Resolution. The Council is expected to meet in New York in mid-November.
Emphasizing the importance of a human rights perspective in the search for a lasting peace, the High Commissioner said it is her intention to visit the occupied Palestinian territories as soon as that can be arranged. On the same occasion, she added, she hopes to visit Israel. The High Commissioner said she will also explore the possibility of visiting a number of other States in the region.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, meanwhile, has informed the relevant thematic rapporteurs and working groups of the Commission of the call in the resolution for them to visit the occupied Palestinian territories.
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Document Sources: Commission on Human Rights
Subject: Armed conflict, Incidents, Intifadah II
Publication Date: 23/10/2000