{"id":312849,"date":"2025-10-10T10:10:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T14:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=312849"},"modified":"2025-12-18T12:15:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:15:56","slug":"no-peace-without-accountability-from-ceasefire-to-justice-briefing-with-un-human-rights-experts","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/no-peace-without-accountability-from-ceasefire-to-justice-briefing-with-un-human-rights-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNo Peace Without Accountability\u201d – From Ceasefire to Justice: UN Palestinian Rights Committee Briefing with UN Human Rights experts – Chair Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Briefing<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSafeguarding Human Rights, Ensuring Accountability and Ending the Unlawful Occupation of Palestine\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Convened by the<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>30 October 2025<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CHAIR SUMMARY<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On 30 October 2025, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People organized a virtual briefing titled \u201cSafeguarding Human Rights, Ensuring Accountability and Ending the Unlawful Occupation of Palestine<\/a>\u201d. The event featured presentations by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory Occupied Since 1967, <\/span>Francesca Albanese<\/span><\/b>; UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, <\/span>Reem Alsalem<\/span><\/b>; UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, <\/span>Ben Saul<\/span><\/b>; as well as Member of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, <\/span>Chris Sidoti<\/span><\/b>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Chair of the Committee and Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations in New York, <\/span><\/b>Ambassador Coly Seck<\/span><\/b>, opened the briefing by welcoming participants and global viewers, framing the event as part of the Committee\u2019s ongoing mandate to uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. He described the past two years in Gaza as a period of immense human suffering: \u201crelentless bombing, widespread destruction, and man-made hunger,\u201d calling it one of the most devastating conflicts of our time and warning that the crisis had pushed the international multilateral system \u201cto the brink of collapse.\u201d He acknowledged the recent developments following the Gaza Peace Summit, including the ceasefire, release of Israeli hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and the phased Israeli military withdrawal, noting these steps created a \u201cfragile glimmer of hope\u201d that must be protected.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ambassador Seck reaffirmed the Committee\u2019s UN-mandated mission ahead of its<\/span>
\n50th anniversary \u2013 to advocate for Palestinian self-determination and the establishment of an independent, sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on pre-1967 lines. He emphasized that the two-State solution, rooted in relevant Security Council resolutions and the principle of peaceful coexistence, remains \u201cthe only viable path\u201d to a just and lasting peace. He commended the Special Rapporteurs and the Independent Commission of Inquiry for their \u201cextraordinary work\u201d documenting violations across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, rigorously examining evidence and separating fact from allegation. Their findings, he stressed, counter claims of bias and instead reflect a \u201cbroader, balanced view\u201d that recognizes abuses and crimes committed by all parties. He condemned political attacks on these UN experts, affirming that such efforts undermine truth-seeking and accountability. The Committee\u2019s stance, he concluded, is unequivocal: accountability must be universal, all victims must be recognized,<\/span>
\nand violations of international law must be condemned \u201cno matter who commits them\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In his remarks, the <\/span>Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations in New York, Minister Riyad Mansour<\/span><\/b>,<\/span> framed the past two years as a period of immense Palestinian suffering, describing the situation as a \u201cgenocidal war\u201d marked by destruction, mass civilian casualties, and the continued detention of nearly 10,000 Palestinians. He stressed that all Palestinian prisoners, including long-serving leaders, \u201cdeserve to join their families\u201d and resume roles in Palestinian society. Minister Mansour welcomed the recent fragile ceasefire and emphasized collective responsibility to make it permanent, deliver humanitarian aid \u201cat the scale they need,\u201d and reconstruct Gaza, calling it a duty \u201cto make it the beautiful part of the State of Palestine\u2026 as it was, and even to make it better.\u201d He highlighted the <\/span>ICJ Advisory Opinion<\/span><\/a> affirming that the occupation must end \u201cas rapidly as possible\u201d and recalled decades of Palestinian diplomatic work to secure such determinations. He urged mobilization across governments, civil society, and global solidarity movements, affirming the struggle is for the \u201cmillions of the Palestinian people,\u201d not individuals. He concluded with a powerful emotional appeal, vowing that Palestinians \u201cwill never forget, and will never forgive\u201d the atrocities committed, expressing confidence that \u201csoon the Palestinian people will prevail\u201d and end their \u201cnightmare\u201d through justice and freedom.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls,<\/span><\/b> began by expressing<\/a> that it was \u201calarming and shameful\u201d that Palestinians, including women and girls, continued to be killed despite a ceasefire. She described documenting the past two years as \u201ca challenge beyond description,\u201d and concluded that existing legal language does not adequately capture the \u201cmonstrosity and scale\u201d of violence against Palestinian women and girls. She argued their deliberate targeting served the intent to destroy Palestinians \u201cin whole or in part,\u201d and therefore required terminology beyond \u201cfemicide.\u201d She adopted \u201cfeminicide\u201d to reflect mass killing rooted in racial, colonial, and patriarchal structures and linked to genocidal objectives.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Alsalem underscored widespread sexual violence, torture, forced disappearance, reproductive violence, and the systematic destruction of maternity and reproductive health services. She cited South Africa\u2019s ICJ filing and COI findings that reproductive violence was used \u201cas a genocidal tool,\u201d noting that targeting reproductive capacity meets legal thresholds under the Genocide Convention. She warned that silence and hesitation from states, including those with feminist foreign policies, expose \u201cdouble standards\u201d and a global regression in protecting women\u2019s rights. She stressed that accountability mechanisms must address the specific experience of Palestinian women, noting ICJ and General Assembly decisions have been \u201csex and gender blind.\u201d She closed by emphasizing consequences beyond Palestine, warning that \u201cwhat happens in Palestine does not stay in Palestine,\u201d and that normalization of brutality is already visible in other crises, such as Sudan.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n