PCHR ‘s Involvement at the Meeting of UN Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights

17 November, 1998

On Monday 16^th November 1998, the UN Committee for Cultural, Social and Economic Rights, that is responsible for ensuring that the High Contracting Parties of the IVth Geneva Convention are implementing the Provisions of the Covenant regarding social, cultural and economic rights. The meeting of the Committee started with an introductory speech by Mrs Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is participating in this activity and two representatives from PCHR, Essam Yunis (Economic and Social Rights Unit Coordinator) and Hamdy Shaqqura (Democratic Development Unit Coordinator) are attending the meetings in Geneva.

More specifically, the Committee discussed to what extent Israel has committed itself to the agreement. In May of this year, the Government of Israel forwarded to the Committee a report regarding its implementation of its commitments in the agreement. However, the report was ambiguous and failed to reveal the entire picture. In addition, the report did not mention the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) at all.

PCHR prepared a report in which it revealed the situation in the OPT and highlighted Israel’s many violations of human rights. The report stresses the Israeli responsibility to put an end to its continued human rights violations in the OPT, despite the peace agreements and the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority. Furthermore, PCHR delivered a speech to the Committee focussing on Israeli measures and practices in OPT, especially those measures related to settlement, land confiscation and the policy of closure and their severe influences on cultural, social and economic rights in the OPT. In addition, PCHR called upon the Committee to take the necessary measures to condemn these practices and to ask the Government of Israel to commit itself to human rights standards and international laws. Moreover, the representatives of PCHR are now involved in the secondary meetings of this Committee, along with a number of UN officials and representatives of international organisations.

 

* PCHR will be circulating all its interventions regarding this issue shortly.