COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS HEARS ADDRESSES FROM SEVEN SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, CONTINUES DEBATE ON THE RIGHT OF PEOPLE TO SELF-DETERMINATION

Commission on Human Rights
57th session
22 March 2001
Morning






Special Rapporteur on the Use of Mercenaries Presents Report


The Commission on Human Rights this morning continued its debate on the right of people to self-determination and heard its Special Rapporteur on the use of mercenaries present his report. The Commission also heard statements from senior Government officials from the Czech Republic,

Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland and the Slovak Republic on their countries efforts to promote and protect fundamental human rights and freedoms, in particular with regard to vulnerable groups.

Martin Palous, Deputy Minster for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, apprised the Commission of measures his Government had taken to promote the integration the Roma minority. While criticism from the members of the international community and non-governmental organizations concerning the protection of the Roma minority had been in many cases fair and justified, he said that some progress had been made in recent years through supporting integration and an emancipation process of the Roma minority.

Oskaras Jusys, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, said that people of 109 nationalities lived in Lithuania and many efforts had been undertaken to ensure that they felt at home. He indicated that this April, Lithuania would host an international European conference on dialogue among civilizations which would bring together Heads of State, international organizations, and distinguished scholars and artists.

Igor Rogov, Minister of Justice of Kazakhstan, said that in 1991, Kazakhstan had adopted a law on State independence which recognized the rights of individuals as recognized under international law. Since then, Kazakhstan had pursued thorough political and economic transformations and had maintained its multinational society. Kazakhstan desired to create and maintain a democratic legal state, the highest value of which was the human rights of mankind.

Josep Pique, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain, said that unfortunately there still were situations where the basic underpinnings of human rights did not apply, such as in the Balkans and the Caucasus, as well as in other locations too numerous to list. He said that Spain was worried about the situation of the Palestinians and would submit a resolution calling for an end to violations of Palestinians' rights. The situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime was another matter of serious concern, he added.

John Battle, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, said that while hundreds of millions grew ever richer, some 1.3 billion - two thirds of them women - had no access to adequate food, water, sanitation, essential health care and primary education. Around 35,000 children died each day from preventable diseases. This reality denied the most elementary of human rights; the right to live. The international community must ensure that economic, social and cultural rights - as well as civil and political rights - were protected in a globalized world, he said.

Grazyna Bernatowicz, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland, said that legislation enacted by any State to deprive an individual of his inalienable human rights needed to be recognized as anti-human and void. The international community needed to focus its efforts on ensuring safety and security for individuals as there was an unbreakable link between a State's or society's security and that of a single human being. The democratic world had a legitimate right to react if any State violated human rights.

And Lubomir Fogas, Vice-Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, said that exclusion, open aggression and similar problems based on race, skin colour or ethnic and social origin continued in various places around the world. The World Conference against Racism was a timely response. The Slovak Republic had established a plan to combat racism and discrimination within the country, and to outlaw such behaviour. The country was convinced that education and prevention were important for combatting such humiliating practices.

Also this morning, the Commission heard from Enrique Bernales Ballesteros, its Special Rapporteur on the use of mercenaries, who said that mercenary activities could never be justified. The wide range of mercenary activities had an adverse affect on peoples' right to self-determination and the enjoyment of human rights. Mercenary activities were behind serious human rights violations, including terrorism, extrajudicial executions, and political assassinations. New forms of mercenary activities had to be considered, he said and the item could not be dropped from the Commission's agenda.

Contributing to the debate from the floor were Representatives of China, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Libya. Speaking in right of reply were the Representatives of Israel and Palestine.

The Commission will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its consideration of its agenda item on the right of peoples to self determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation.

Right to Self-determination

Under this item the Commission has before it a note by the High Commissioner on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2001/18) containing summaries of the papers presented by the Special Rapporteur, Enrique Bernales Ballesteros, and other Experts on mercenary activity. The report reviews international, regional and national legislation relating to the phenomenon of mercenaries and measures to implement existing legislation. It also addresses the relevance of the international definition of mercenary activity and traditional and current forms of mercenary activities. The report recommends that the United Nations reaffirm its condemnation of mercenary activity and associated crimes, whether by States, organizations, groups or individuals. It also calls upon the United Nations to recognize that there are new kinds of mercenaries which require additional action and measures and recommends, inter alia, that a systematic and comprehensive review of the legal definition of mercenary be considered as a matter of urgency.

There also is a report of Enrique Bernales Ballesteros, Special Rapporteur on the right of peoples to self-determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation (E/CN.4/2001/19), which reviews, among other things, the activities of the Special Rapporteur on the implementation of the programme of activities and the correspondence sent and received in 2000; mercenary activities in Africa including activities in the States of Angola, Sierra Leone, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea-Bissau; the present situation as regards mercenary activities including sections on traditional forms of mercenary activities, terrorism and mercenaries, criminal associations, private security and military assistance companies operating internationally, and problems raised by a legal definition of mercenarism; and the current status of the international convention against the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries.

The report concludes that the number of mercenary activities has not diminished and that international efforts to prevent and prosecute such activities have been inadequate. It contends that particular attention should be paid to the participation of mercenaries in illegal activities such as terrorist acts, illegal trafficking in persons, drugs, diamonds, and organized crime.


Statements

MARTIN PALOUS, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, said that the solution of human rights problems must begin at the national level and the primary responsibility always lay with Governments. In the Czech Republic, the gross and systematic pattern of human rights violations had ended with the collapse of communism in 1989, but it could not be said that all human rights problems had been solved.

The process of the transformation of the Czech domestic political system and integration into Europe had brought many new challenges and fundamental questions . All basic international instruments were operational and the Czech Republic recognized all its international legal obligations. Criticism from the members of the international community and non-governmental organizations concerning the protection of rights of the Roma minority had been in many cases fair and justified.

Mr. Palous said it should be noted that there had been some progress in recent years through supporting integration and an emancipation process of the Roma minority. Efforts focused not only on legislative changes, but also on practical measures in the fields of education, employment, housing, and migration, all the way to political participation. The objective was to achieve a fully integrated society.

OSKARAS JUSYS, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, said the upcoming World Conference against Racism should provide concrete and measurable objectives to be fully implemented at the national level by all Member States of the United Nations; people of 109 nationalities lived in Lithuania and many efforts had been undertaken to ensure that they felt at home; among other steps, in 2000, Lithuania had ratified the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe for Protection of National Minorities, and it had approved a programme for the integration of the Roma while concurrently preserving their national identity.

Respect for the principles of tolerance and non-discrimination was indispensable for the functioning of democracy and contributed to the stability and security of society, Mr. Jusys said; this April, Lithuania would host an international European conference on dialogue among civilizations which would bring together Heads of State, international organizations, and distinguished scholars and artists.

No one responsible for human rights violations should escape justice, Mr. Jusys said. He welcomed the valuable work done by the international tribunals, especially the first convictions by the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Sadly, the Balkans remained the centre of attention even this year, and the latest events underlined the importance of seeking ways to avoid further escalation of violence there.

Global ratification of UN human rights treaties was a worthwhile goal, but only if ratification was followed by implementation of the treaties, he said. A shorter period between presentation of reports and their consideration by treaty monitoring bodies would be useful. Lithuania took the concluding observations of such bodies seriously and took steps to implement the recommendations they contained.

Lithuania had created an independent court system and an Ombudsman's office to help protect human rights, Mr. Jusys concluded by saying.

IGOR ROGOV, Minister of Justice of Kazahkstan, said that in 1991, Kazakhstan adopted a law on state independence which recognized the rights of individuals as recognized under international law. Since then, Kazakhstan had pursued thorough political and economic transformations and had maintained its multinational society. Kazakhstan desired to create and maintain a democratic legal state, the highest value of which was the human rights of mankind. In the last century, many people of different faiths were deported. Kazakhstan was now committed to guaranteeing, among other values, private property, the right to health, the right to free secondary education, and the rights to marriage and family. The people were the source of the State's laws and the necessary conditions needed to be created for the State's citizens to be able to enjoy all their rights.

Mr. Rogov said that Kazakhstan was party to a wide range of multilateral treaties which guaranteed human rights. Currently, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child were in the last stages of ratification. The Government planned to create an Ombudsman on human rights. The Rome treaty was being analysed. There had been political liberalization and democratization since 1998, and the electoral process had been improved for both electors and candidates. The opposition was well represented in Parliament. The President had stated his commitment to employment and social protection, reform of the judiciary, including the humanization of the criminal code and the improvement of the working conditions of judges, and increased local self-government. A greater role for civil society involving the mass media, the assembly of people and those involved in protecting human rights was created.

Kazakhstan had attained macro-economic stabilization and privatization. The Minister of Justice said it had one of the highest indices in the Commonwealth of Independent States for capital investment. The aims of international organizations in the extension of the social safety net had been adopted. A National Commission on Family and Women's Matters had been created. Corruption was a threat to both the security of the State and the individual. He acknowledged the difficulties created by international extremism in the Asian region.

JOSEP PIQUE, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain, said his country attached great importance to the upcoming World Conference against Racism. It had made financial contributions to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and would make a contribution to the Conference; it was necessary for the outcome of the Conference for it to be specific, practical, and for it to look to the future, aiming at precise solutions to contemporary forms of racism.

Spain hoped that all States would participate actively in a conference on the elimination of discrimination and intolerance, including discrimination and intolerance based on religion, which would be held in Madrid next November; it was hoped that the meeting would result in a document which would help States in developing education programmes that would be effective at ending such intolerance.

Spain considered democracy and the rule of law as the only system that would allow full realization of human rights, Mr. Pique said; unfortunately there still were situations where these basic underpinnings did not apply, such as in the Balkans and the Caucasus, as well as in other locations too numerous to list; it also was worth noting that much progress had been made in recent years, including in Latin America; while Spain applauded efforts made by Colombia to end human-rights abuses there, it also felt it necessary to express concern that abuses continued to occur.

Spain was very interested in the Mediterranean region and the progress of democracy there, the Foreign Minister said; problems continued in the Middle East and Spain was worried about the situation of the Palestinians and would submit a draft resolution calling for an end to violations of Palestinians' rights and an end to Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories; the Palestinians must be free to exercise their rights.

The situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime was a matter of great worry, especially as the clamp-down on internationally recognized human rights there seemed to be intensifying. The matter of impunity for human rights violations, there and elsewhere, had to be addressed more effectively by the international community.

Cultural excuses could no longer serve as justification for the violation of women's human rights, Mr. Pique said; and in Spain national and local plans to protect women from violence, especially in the home, were being established. Spain also joined the rest of the European Union in calling for an end to all use of the death penalty.

JOHN BATTLE, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, said that the last century had seen violence and suffering of an unthinkable level. In the last decade, internal wars had claimed more than five million lives, and drove many times that number of people from their homes. The situation in a number of countries was of particular concern, including China, the Russian Federation and Zimbabwe. Concern was expressed at the continued detention and harassment of democracy activists, religious practitioners and Falun Gong adherents in China as well as the use of the death penalty, administrative detention, incidents of torture and degrading treatment of detainees. The situation in Tibet remained bleak.

There was urgent need for a thorough and transparent investigation of widespread allegations of human rights violations in Chechnya, Mr. Battle said. Those responsible must be prosecuted and where appropriate, punished. Sadly the situation in Zimbabwe continued to deteriorate. The campaign of harassment against Zimbabwe's judiciary, the expulsion of journalists and orchestrated violence against members of the legitimate opposition would seem to run counter to Zimbabwe's obligations under international law and the Harare Commonwealth Declaration.

Mr. Battle said that while hundreds of millions grew ever richer, some 1.3 billion - two thirds of them women - had no access to adequate food, water, sanitation, essential health care and primary education. Around 35,000 children died each day from preventable diseases. This reality denied the most elementary of human rights, the right to live. The international community must ensure that economic, social and cultural rights - as well as civil and political rights - were protected in a globalized world.

GRAZYNA BERNATOWICZ, Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Poland, said that legislation for the benefit of individuals was needed and that legislation enacted by any State to deprive an individual of his inalienable human rights needed to be recognized as anti-human and void. Phenomena that occurred in one country to one group were not limited in their results to that entity and were not effectively dealt with by only one country. The international community needed to focus its efforts on ensuring safety and security for individuals as there was an unbreakable link between a State's or society's security and that of a single human being. The democratic world had a legitimate right to react if any State violated human rights. Groups and societies needed to not be forgotten in the focus on the individual.

Mrs. Bernatowicz said diversity was an inspiration for peaceful and sustainable development, not a cause of conflict or injustice. In 2000, Poland hosted the International Conference 'Towards a Community of Democracies' in Warsaw where two significant documents were adopted, the Warsaw Declaration, accepted by 109 States, and the Final Communique of participating States. Democratic government was both a usual and ordinary way of organization and management as well as a safeguard for human rights and democratic rules. The establishment of the International Criminal Court opened a new page in the international system of justice which was able to correct failures of domestic justice systems. Human rights were not provided without democratic government and democracy did not flourish without good governance. The link between human rights and good governance was evidenced by documents from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the United Nations Millennium Declaration.

The Under-Secretary of State of Poland said that the ratification process on two Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Protocol on Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts and the Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, had been sped up in preparation for the United Nations Special Session on children in September 2001. Poland planned to cooperate closely with the European Union and other partners in preparation for the World Conference against Racism and desired its success. The continued HIV/AIDS pandemic was of concern, therefore, Poland planned to introduce a relevant resolution to the Commission. The collective responsibility of world leaders to uphold the principles contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration was to be honoured by Poland in practical implementation.

L'UBOMIR FOGAS, Vice-Prime Minister for Legal Affairs of the Slovak Republic, said he hoped the Commission would be able this year to overcome past obstacles and achieve still greater success in promoting human rights around the world; the Slovak Republic was grateful for the cooperation it had received from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Minimum standards for civil and democratic rights had to be set below which the civilized world would not be allowed to descend, Mr. Fogas said; justice depended on laws and rules and the success of a society depended on its ability to provide these basic things. It was clear that money and profit were not sufficient to help a society; nor was free trade; the fruits of economic progress had to be fairly distributed or social stability and human rights would continue to be threatened. There also had to be more work done on fostering the tolerant functioning of multi-cultural societies.

Exclusion, open aggression and similar problems based on race, skin colour or ethnic and social origin continued in various places around the world, Mr. Fogas said, and the World Conference against Racism was a timely response. The Slovak Republic had established a plan to combat racism and discrimination within the country, and to outlaw such behaviour. The country was convinced that education and prevention were important for combatting such humiliating practices.

The Slovak Republic was a party to most basic international and European human-rights treaties, the Vice-Prime Minister said. Several optional protocols to human rights treaties had recently been signed or would soon be signed by the country, including the Protocol No. 12 of the European Convention on the Safeguarding of Human Rights, which contained a general anti-discrimination clause. Furthermore, Parliament had adopted in February an amendment to the Constitution that firmly established the legal supremacy of most international treaties signed by the country, reinforced democracy at the regional level, and reinforced the principles of independence of the judiciary.

A particularly important amendment to the Constitution had established an Ombudsman's office for human rights issues, Mr. Fogas said. In addition, the Government was taking steps to ensure full protection of the rights of ethnic minorities.

ENRIQUE BERNALES BALLESTEROS, Special Rapporteur on the use of mercenaries, said that mercenary activities could never be justified. The resistant and wide range of mercenary activities had an adverse affect on peoples' right to self-determination and the enjoyment of human rights. Mercenary activities were behind serious human rights violations, including terrorism, extrajudicial executions and political assassinations. New forms of mercenary activities had to be considered, and the item should not be dropped from the Commission's agenda.

An extension of the legal definition of mercenaries was required to include, among others, the organizations which recruited mercenaries. Since the creation of the mandate in 1987, some 50 countries had submitted complaints regarding the presence of mercenaries on their territory, which demonstrated that the phenomenon had acquired a global scope.

Loopholes in legislation allowed mercenaries to enjoy impunity. As a result, mercenary activities continued and included sabotage, trafficking in arms, drugs, diamonds, persons and organized crime. Public security firms which often recruited mercenaries were also expanding and were reportedly intervening in armed conflicts. The Special Rapporteur should be given a broader mandate as serious legal problems arose in international law when dealing with mercenaries. The entry into force of the convention against mercenary activities would occur when one more country ratified it.

MEI YUNCAI (China) said that the right of peoples to self-determination had been historically important as a powerful weapon for oppressed nations to fight against imperialism and colonialism as they won their independence and the liberation of their peoples. The right to self-determination was a sacred principle which meant that people had the right to choose their own political and social system as well as an economic model and path to development. Around the world, powerful States bullied the weak and interfered in the affairs of other States with political pressure, economic sanctions and even armed invasion. Some States advocated the splitting of sovereign States under the cloak of self-determination. The UN Charter and fundamental principles of international law were trampled in the process.

The Palestinian people needed to have all their rights, which included the right to self-determination, restored. An early, fair and just solution to the question of Palestine was the crux for the realization of a lasting peace in the Middle East. The parties concerned needed to exercise restraint and to create the necessary atmosphere and conditions for the renewal and acceleration of peace negotiations as the protracted violence was of deep concern.

HOCINE SAHRAOUI (Algeria) said much remained to be done to realize the right to self-determination. The Palestinian people were still being denied this fundamental right, and in recent months had been subjected to organized repression and systematic denial of their rights; their freedom had been denied by a colonialist occupier half a century ago and was now being sought through the Intifada, for which almost every day new martyrs gave their lives. The Palestinians were fighting for their very existence, and the international community must call on Israel to stop its policy of postponement and delay and return to the logic of peace, security, and stability.

A just and definitive solution to the Middle East problem, based on the principle of 'land for peace', must include the total withdrawal of Israeli forces and the restoration of the rights of the Palestinians to a totally independent State. United Nations resolutions and international law must be respected by Israel, and Israeli settlement activity in Palestine must cease. A settlement also was still needed in the matter of the Western Sahara despite years of efforts to hold a free and transparent referendum; the deadlock over identifying those qualified to vote showed no signs of resolution and further United Nations action was needed.

ABDULWAHAB ATTAR (Saudi Arabia) said it was difficult to comprehend the international community's response to the bloody events in the occupied territories of Palestine. It was obvious that political considerations frequently outweighed humanitarian requirements. The situation in the occupied territories of Palestine continued to pose a challenge to the resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations in spite of the universality of international human rights instruments which affirmed the right to self-determination of all peoples.

The unreasonably harsh conditions used by Israel to obstruct the Middle East peace process constituted a challenge to the Commission and implied a flagrant disregard for international resolutions which recognized the right of the Palestinian people to a sovereign State. The Government of Israel was held responsible for the consequences of its actions against the Palestinian people. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia planned to stand by and support the Palestinian people until they realized their right to return to their homeland. The Palestinian people had chosen to pursue peace, but a just peace. The Commission was considering a draft resolution on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. Support for giving effect to the relevant United Nations resolutions needed to be given on purely humanitarian grounds, without taking any other factors into account.

MUNIR AKRAM (Pakistan), speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said a 1960 General Assembly resolution had categorically stated that the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constituted a denial of fundamental human rights. Human rights could only exist truly and fully when self-determination had been realized; this principle had existed prior to the existence of the United Nations and had attained a character of most importance right among human rights. Any denial of this right was a violation of the United Nations Charter. Furthermore the Special Rapporteur of the Subcommission on Human Rights, in his study on the right to self-determination, said persons struggling for this right were entitled to use every means available to them.

The people of Palestine were still being denied this right by the occupying power, Israel. The OIC affirmed its conviction that there was no power in the world that could prevail over the just struggle of a people for freedom once they were resolved to realize their freedom. The people of Jammu and Kashmir also still awaited realization of their right to self-determination.

Speaking on behalf of his own country, Mr. Akram said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had waited in vain to exercise their right to self-determination since 1948, when the Security Council decided that they were entitled to a fair and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices to determine their future. For the past eleven years there had been a particularly unequal struggle as Kashmiris attempted to defy the third largest army in the world. India had waged a brutal campaign of repression, killing over 70,000 Kashmiris and condemning thousands of others to languish in jails. Kashmiri leaders were beaten, incarcerated, intimidated and tortured. Custodial killings were practised by Indian forces with impunity. All this went on while India continued to declare cease-fires and their extensions in Kashmir.

The basic realities remained despite India's massive disinformation campaign. The Kashmiris' struggle was a matter of self-determination and not terrorism; it was spontaneous and indigenous, not the result of outside interference; the problem of Kashmir could only be resolved in accordance with the wishes of Kashmiris; and the United Nations had a legal, political and moral obligation to foster a just and peaceful solution to the dispute.

NAJAT AL-HAJJAJI (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) said that the last two Middle East summits which had dealt with the Palestinian question reflected the reality of the situation. The negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians could not be seen as a peace process, because the situation was one in which the Palestinian people were resisting an occupying force. The negotiations were very far from restoring the rights of the Palestinian people. Just because the Palestinians were the weaker party did not mean that they had lesser rights.

Libya was fully convinced of the true intentions of the United Nations in trying to develop a culture of peace in every region of the world. The reality in the Middle East was that there was a force of colonial occupation on part of the lands in southern Lebanon and the occupied territories of Palestine. Muslim sites had been profaned in Jerusalem. Israel was the only State in the Middle East which had nuclear weapons, but it had refused to sign the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons treaty. A total capitulation on human rights was demanded. To consider peace and war to be an idea in people minds was a deliberate denial of the rights of people fighting for their rights and liberties and of the martyrdom of these people. They had been invited to capitulate, to be subjugated. This situation was against political, economic and social rights which are based on justice and equity.


Rights of Reply

A Representative of Israel, speaking in right of reply, said the statement of the Organization of Islamic Conference on the right to struggle for self-determination being acceptable when peaceful means had been exhausted raised the question of whether peaceful means had been exhausted. In fact, peaceful means had not been exhausted in the Middle East; Israel had consistently sought dialogue with the Palestinians and negotiations had occurred periodically. Peaceful means had not been exhausted and there was no reason to resort to violence. Let the Commission exhort all involved in the matter to resume substantive peaceful negotiations and let it not support the current trend towards violence in the region.

A Representative of Palestine, speaking in right of reply, said that if Israel wanted peace it would have to withdraw from occupied Palestine. If Israel wanted peace why did it forcibly continue to occupy Palestinian territories, in defiance of UN resolutions? The region was in flames because of Israel's war against the Palestinians. Israel had killed the peace process with its own hands.


CORRIGENDUM


In press release HR/CN/01/5 of 21 March, 2001, the statement of the Representative of Egypt on page 9 should read as follows:

FAYZA ABOULNAGA (Egypt) said the tasks of the Office of the High Commissioner were growing, which was a good thing, but the process required better coordination to avoid overlap and waste. The report on the visit by the High Commissioner to the occupied Palestinian territories was laudable and helped somewhat to restore the United Nations' credibility on issues related to the Middle East; in no way could anyone accept the contradictory logic coming from some quarters that responsibility for the situation there should be placed on the people who were occupied, rather than on the occupiers.

Israeli aggression was known to all, and could not be defended in any way. The High Commissioner's report contained very important recommendations regarding the urgent need for international protection, settlements, compensation as well as the responsibility of the States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention and hence the urgency of reconvening the diplomatic Conference. How the Commission responded to the desperate and illegal situation in the occupied territories was a prime test of its credibility; the Commission could not be said to respect human rights if it did not take serious, unambiguous action to help the Palestinians.



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