Ref: 60/2010

On Wednesday, 9 June 2010, Jaber Weshah, Deputy Director of
the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) presented a two-hour testimony
before the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the
Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied
Territories. His testimony was presented
during the hearing sessions held by the Committee in Cairo.

The Committee, which Israel refuses to officially be
receive, began its activities in Cairo a few days ago. Lawyer Iyad al-Alami, Deputy Director of PCHR
for Administrative Affairs, and Hamdi Shaqoura, Deputy Director of PCHR for
Program Affairs, were supposed to represent PCHR before the Committee; however,
they were not able travel to Egypt to testify due to the restrictions and siege
imposed on the Gaza Strip, including Rafah International Crossing Point. Alternatively, Weshah testified before the
Committee as he was in Egypt then.

Weshah surveyed the human right situation in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT. He highlighted the crimes and violations
perpetrated by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against the Palestinians
during the past period, which separated the hearing sessions of the Committee
last year and this year. In detail,
Weshah spoke about the disastrous impacts of the latest 23-day Israeli
offensive on the Gaza Strip (27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009), indicating
that these impacts had affected all aspects of life; in addition, the traces of
destruction of thousands of houses, civilian buildings, industrial and agricultural
facilities, and infrastructure have been still existing.

Besides, he tackled the impacts of the siege imposed on the
Gaza Strip, talking about the economic and social stranglehold manifested in
restrictions and measures imposed on more than a million and a half
Palestinians. Such economic and social stranglehold
has aggravated due to the failure of any attempt to reconstruct the Gaza Strip
under the closure of border crossings and hindering the entry of the materials
needed for rehabilitation and development, by land and sea, of what had been
destroyed by Israel. In his speech, Weshah mentioned the crime lately
perpetrated by IOF against the “Freedom Flotilla” activists, who
tried to break the siege by sea.

Weshah further addressed the Israeli practices in the West
Bank, where he talked about the ongoing crimes of confiscating lands,
destroying houses, constructing the Annexation Wall, imposing restrictions on
movement at checkpoints, arbitrary arrests and so on. He said that these practices, whether in the
Gaza Strip or the West Bank, are committed before the international
community. However, the failure of the
international community and UN to prosecute Israel and put an end to its crimes
has turned Israel to a state above law, openly promoted the culture of impunity
at all levels, and that it is protected against the international justice.

On the other hand, Weshah spoke about the Palestinian
Detainees’ conditions in the Israeli prisons and the suffering of their
relatives, indicating that the detainees’ living conditions are so hard due to
the bad conditions of detention. Moreover, their relatives suffer due to being deprived of their right to
visitations. Weshah stressed that any
political agreement, which does not openly include guarantees to release
Palestinian detainees according to a specific timetable, will not succeed.

At the end of his testimony, Weshah answered some questions
asked by members of the Committee, confirming that it is necessary for the
Committee to go to OPT to hold the hearing sessions there in the future so as
to listen to the testimonies of the victims.

It should be noted that this Committee consists of three Member
States: Sri Lanka, head of the Committee; Malaysia; and Senegal. The Committee was established by a the
General Assembly resolution in December 1968 to address the human rights
situation in OPT, including the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West
Bank, including East Jerusalem. Since
its establishment, the Israeli government has rejected any of the Committee’s
demands to visit OPT. As a result, the
Committee annually visits neighboring countries, Egypt and Jordan, to collect information from eyewitnesses in
order to identify the human rights situation in OPT. During its visits, the Committee meets the
representatives of governments, UN agencies, and concerned parties. At the end of its annual visit, the Committee
presents a report to the General Assembly based on the information collected
during its visit and other resources. The report includes an evaluation of the situation and recommendations
on improving the human rights situation for those whose life is affected by the
occupation.