PRESS RELEASE

Released @ 12:00 hours GMT 11th December 1997 Opening Day of the International Conference on

“Human Rights and Final Status Issues”

On the afternoon of Friday, December 12, 1997 the opening ceremony of the International Conference on “Human Rights and Final Status Issues” will be held in Gaza. The conference, organized by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, will be held for four days and will host distinguished local and international experts who will present papers on the following issues: 1) The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination; 2) the question of Palestinian refugees and their right of return; 3) the question of Jerusalem; 4) the question of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories; 5) water, environmental and cultural rights; 6) mutual security and Palestinian security requirements; and 7) economic relations and prospects for the economic development of Palestine. In addition, other related framework issues will be considered, including discussion of the role of the international community in requiring Israel to abide by international norms regarding human rights.

The international gathering is of the utmost importance as it will focus attention on the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and will challenge the Israeli government’s provocative policy of denying such rights to the Palestinian people due to the failure to apply relevant international conventions and treaties. The conference will also provide a forum for both local and international experts to present and discuss their research papers pertaining to the Palestinian situation. It is hoped that the results of these discussions will be of great support to the people of Palestine prior to the final status negotiations.

The opening ceremony will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, December 12 at Rashad Shawa Cultural Center in Gaza. The first speaker will be Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. He will be followed by Mr. Salim Za’noun, Speaker of the Palestinian National Council. The third speaker will be Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Minister of Higher Education in the Palestinian National Authority. The Centre invited hundreds of guests to participate in this gathering, including Palestinian government officials, judges, diplomats, public figures, and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

The next day, December 13, the proceedings of the conference will begin at 9:00 a.m. at Rashad Shawa Cultural Center. Simultaneous translation from Arabic to English and vice-versa will be provided.