UN Special Rapporteur on Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory to Conduct Visit – Press Release

GENEVA (5 July 2019) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, begins his annual official mission to the region on 8 July, through Friday 12 July 2019.

The Special Rapporteur will gather first-hand information on the current human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Due to Israel’s lack of response to the Special Rapporteur’s request to travel to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, he will hold meetings in Amman, Jordan.

During his mission, the Special Rapporteur will meet with officials, community leaders and civil society representatives, among others.  He will discuss the human rights situation across the Occupied Palestinian Territory with a focus on gathering evidence and information that will inform his upcoming report.

The Special Rapporteur will present his annual report to the General Assembly in October 2019 on his findings and conclusions.

ENDS

Mr. Michael Lynk was designated by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016 as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The mandate was originally established in 1993 by the then UN Commission on Human Rights. Professor Lynk is Associate Professor of Law at Western University in London, Ontario, where he teaches labour law, constitutional law and human rights law. Before becoming an academic, he practiced labour law and refugee law for a decade in Ottawa and Toronto. He also worked for the United Nations on human rights and refugee issues in Jerusalem.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.