Human Rights Closes Fortieth Session After Adopting 29 Resolutions, Including Four on the OPT – Press Release (Excerpts)

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The Human Rights Council this afternoon concluded its fortieth regular session, during which it addressed a wide range of human rights issues with numerous human rights experts, working groups and investigative bodies, adopted the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of 14 States, and heard statements from 93 dignitaries during its high-level segment, including from the President of Tunisia, Chairman of the African Union, First Vice-President of Costa Rica, and the Prime Ministers of Yemen and Fiji.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the Council at its opening session on 25 February, and the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed engaged with the Council on 7 March.

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Summary of the Programme of Work

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Fourth Week of the Session (18 to 22 March)

On Monday 18 March, the Council heard the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 present his report that emphasized issues of access to natural resources and environmental degradation, and also heard from the Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 protests in the occupied Palestinian territory whose report focused on accountability and found reasonable grounds to believe that some violations might constitute international crimes. The separate interactive dialogues were then followed by a general debate on the situation of human rights in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories and a general debate on the follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, which concluded on Tuesday 19 March.

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Resolutions

Action on Texts under the Agenda Item 2 on the Report of the High Commissioner and Reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

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In a resolution (A/HRC/40/L.25) on ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, adopted by a vote of 23 in favour, eight against and 15 abstentions, the Council requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to strengthen the field presence of her Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, and to deploy the personnel and expertise necessary to monitor and document the ongoing violations of international law in the context of large-scale civilian protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in accordance with the findings of the independent international commission of inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Council also requested the High Commissioner to provide her oral update at the forty-second session and a report at its forty-third session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue.

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Action on Resolutions under the Agenda Item 7 on Human Rights Situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories 

/…In a resolution (A/HRC/40/L.4) on human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, adopted by a vote of 26 in favour, five against and 16 abstentions, the Council expresses grave concern about the Israeli practices in the occupied Syrian Golan described in the report of the Secretary-General submitted to the Human Rights Council at its fortieth session, highlighting the arbitrary arrests of Syrians, the lack of due process guarantees afforded to Syrians and the unlawful mine-laying practices of the Israeli occupation forces in the occupied Syrian Golan, and requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all Governments, the competent United Nations organs, specialized agencies, international and regional intergovernmental organizations and international humanitarian organizations, to disseminate it as widely as possible and to report on this matter to the Human Rights Council at its forty-third session.

In a resolution (A/HRC/40/L.26) on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, adopted by a vote of 41 in favour, three against and two abstentions, the Council calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to immediately end its occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and further reaffirms its support for the solution of two States, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security; and expresses grave concern at the fragmentation and the changes in the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which are resulting from Israel’s continuing construction and expansion of settlements, forcible transfer of Palestinians and construction of the wall. The Council confirms that the right of the Palestinian people to permanent sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources must be used in the interest of their national development, the well-being of the Palestinian people and as part of the realization of their right to self-determination.

In a resolution (A/HRC/40/L.27) on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, adopted by a vote of 39 in favour, three against and five abstentions, the Council demands that Israel, the occupying Power, withdraw from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, so as to enable the Palestinian people to exercise its universally recognized right to self-determination. The Council demands that Israel cease all of its settlement activities, the construction of the wall and any other measures aimed at altering the character, status and demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and cease immediately its imposition of prolonged closures and economic and movement restrictions, including those amounting to a blockade on the Gaza Strip.

In a resolution (A/HRC/40/L.28) on the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, adopted by a vote of 32 in favour, five against and 10 abstentions, the Council demands that Israel, the occupying Power, immediately cease all settlement activities in all the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan; and calls upon business enterprises to take all measures necessary to comply with their responsibilities under the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and relevant international laws and standards with respect to their activities in or in relation to the Israeli settlements and the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The Council requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to report to the Human Rights Council on the implementation of the provisions of the present resolution at its forty-third session, with particular emphasis on the policies and practices linked to the settlement enterprise that discriminate against the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

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For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC/19/58E