Dear Representative,

Please find enclosed a copy of “The Obligation to Ensure Respect: A Call for the High Contracting Parties on the Enforcement of Israel’s Respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention” published by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

12 August 2001 was the fifty-second anniversary of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949 (the Fourth Geneva Convention).  Israel has long been a High Contracting Party to the Convention, yet since its occupation in 1967 of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, including Jerusalem, Israel has refused to recognize the de jure applicability of the Convention to these Occupied Palestinian Territories.  During the last thirty-four years of this occupation, Israel has consistently and repeatedly violated many of the provisions of the Convention.  However, the first year of the Al-Aqsa Intifada has borne witness to an unprecedented escalation in violence against Palestinian civilians. Willful killings, torture, ill-treatment of prisoners, willful destruction of homes and property,
population transfer (settlements), and collective punishments are just some of the violations that Israel has committed and continues to commit against Palestinian civilians.  As grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, these violations constitute war crimes, as recognized by the International Committee of the Red Cross, international human rights organizations and some High Contracting Parties to the Convention.

The High Contracting Parties’ meeting held on 15 July 1999 in response to a call by the United Nations General Assembly was intended to discuss ways of ensuring Israel’s respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention.  Under pressure from the United States, Canadian and Australian governments, political interests compromised the conference and although its convening was a manifestation of the legal
obligation embodied in Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which calls upon all High Contracting Parties to “respect, and ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances”, the conference essentially failed to constitute any step towards the fulfilment of this obligation.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights notes with appreciation the recent call of the Swiss Government to reconvene the meeting on December 5, 2001 and urges the High Contracting Parties not to allow its subjugation to political interests as occurred in the conference in 1999.  The outcome of this conference must not be merely a statement of condemnation of Israel’s violations. Palestinian civilians are daily paying a heavy price for

the inaction of the international community and it is time for this conspiracy of silence to be broken.  The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights therefore demands that the outcome of this meeting of the High Contracting Parties be a plan of action, consisting of practical measures, to be implemented with immediate effect to ensure Israel’s respect of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights condemns the US government’s decision to boycott the meeting
and is concerned that this action undermines their commitment to the eradication of terrorism, in all its forms, around the world.  State terrorism, as perpetrated by Israel against Palestinian civilians, must be
combated with the same commitment and efforts as all other forms of terrorism.  No state which commits or supports terrorism can be allowed to enjoy impunity.

The meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to be held on December 5,
2001 is an essential step in ensuring the implementation of the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in protecting Palestinian civilians and in halting war crimes and acts of state terrorism which have been or are currently being perpetrated in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights wishes the international community to recognize and accept
that the resolution of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories can be found only in the application and implementation of international, human rights and international humanitarian law.

Please also find enclosed a copy of a Press Release issued by the Palestinian Centre for Human
Rights in cooperation with LAW, the Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, on 10 November 2001.

Yours sincerely,

Raji Sourani

Director Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

The Obligation to ‘Ensure Respect’

A Call for a High Contracting Parties on the Enforcment of Israel’s
Respect of the Fourth Geneva Convention (pdf)