SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON SITUATION
IN IRAQ ADDRESSES COMMISSION
ON HUMAN RIGHTS
31 March 1999
AFTERNOON
HR/CN/99/17
31 March 1999
Debate Begins on Violations of Human Rights Anywhere in World
Max van der Stoel, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iraq, told the Commission on Human Rights this afternoon that there continued to be credible allegations of numerous and systematic arbitrary executions in the country; interference with the independent religious practices of the Shi'ite community; internal deportations of ethnic Kurds; violations of the rights to food and health; and violations of the rights of the child.
A representative of Iraq charged in response that the Special Rapporteur had political objectives and had written his report with the "poisonous aim" of provoking sectarianism and partitioning the people and the territory of Iraq.
Over the course of the afternoon, the Commission concluded its discussion of the question of violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine. Numerous national representatives and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) criticized Israel's continued occupation of the territories and charged Israeli authorities with human-rights abuses. They urged the Israeli Government to implement the peace agreements it had signed.
Addressing the meeting were representatives of Sudan, Tunisia, Canada, Qatar, China, Cuba, Egypt, the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, Mauritania, Jordan, Switzerland, Iran, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the League of Arab States, Algeria, Iraq, and India.
Officials from the following non-governmental organizations also spoke: Arab Lawyers Union; World Organization against Torture; the International Federation of Human Rights; the International Commission of Jurists; the Association of World Education and Association of World Citizens (joint statement); Amnesty International; the Society for Threatened Peoples; and the World Muslim Congress.
And representatives of Palestine, Turkey, and Sweden spoke in exercise of the right of reply.
The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. Thursday, 1 April, to continue its review of the question of the violation of human rights in any part of the world. A series of Special Rapporteurs will introduce their reports at the beginning of the meeting.
Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world
Before the Commission under this agenda item is a report (E/CN.4/1999/37) from the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iraq. The report details the activities of the Special Rapporteur; the violations of civil and political rights in Iraq; violations affecting ethnic and religious communities including those of the southern marsh area, the Shi’ite community, and the Kurds; and other human rights violations. The report concludes, among others, that the gravity of the human rights situation in Iraq has few comparisons in the world since the end of the Second World War. It recommends that the Government of Iraq should immediately release all those who are being held, reveal the names of all those who have died in its custody, and invite the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and give it full and unrestricted access to all Iraqi prisons and detention centres. He recommends that the international community put pressure on Iraq to comply with these and previous report recommenda
tions.
Statements
MAX VAN DER STOEL, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iraq, introducing his annual report, said that over the past eight years, he had submitted almost 1,000 pages of reporting on this topic, and all the while serious human-rights violations had continued without the slightest indication of any change in the Iraqi Government’s policy or of any effort or intention to improve the situation. All the while, the Government had simply denied everything.
Mr. van der Stoel said he now had the sad duty to tell the Commission once again that there were credible allegations of numerous and systematic arbitrary executions in Iraq; interferences with the independent religious practices of the Shi'ite community; continuing internal deportations of ethnic Kurds; violations of the rights to food and health; and violations of the rights of the child. The Government continued to fail even to cooperate in efforts to resolve the hundreds of cases of missing Kuwaitis and others who disappeared under the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait years ago.
In addition, the Special Rapporteur said, he had received recent allegations of arbitrary executions of persons held within Iraqi prisons for various crimes, including for political reasons; reports indicated that army officers had been among the executed, including some top officers in the last few weeks allegedly for planning a military coup, and others in relation to unrest in southern Iraq following the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadek al-Sadr and his two sons. There also was evidence that Iraq was forcibly causing internal deportation of Kurds and Turkomans.
GASIM IDRIS (Sudan) said there were continued violations of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including East Jerusalem. Violations included assassinations of Palestinians, the detention without trial of thousands of Palestinians, and the expropriation of Palestinian land as a result of Israel’s expansionist ideas. International law prohibited the acquisition of land by force, and this had also been forbidden by the Security Council resolutions. Thus Israel’s continued acquisition of Palestinian land was null and void.
Israel had been asked to stop changing the demography of Jerusalem and it had to stop building settlements there. Israel’s violations in occupied Jerusalem had to stop. The withdrawal of Israel from territory occupied since 1967 in accordance to United Nations resolutions would put an end to the violations of human rights in this region.
KAMEL MORJANE (Tunisia) said violations of human rights continued day after day in occupied Palestine, the Syrian Golan, and other occupied territories; the root of the problem was the colonialist practices of the occupying Israeli authorities. The pattern was the same as in the past; Israeli settlements continued to be expanded and new ones to be constructed; Palestinian homes continued to be demolished; Palestinian detainees and prisoners continued to be maltreated; land closures continued to be carried out; and the Commission and General Assembly resolutions continued to be ignored.
Israel simply could not be allowed to continue to violate international standards and rules for legitimate behaviour. Tunisia had always supported the Middle East peace process, and it considered the land-for-peace process to be wise and effective. But hopes for implementing the peace agreements had been dashed; the Israeli Government had gone back on its commitments. This must not continue; no excuses should be accepted; Israel should return to a legitimate path to peace.
MARIE GERVAIS-VIDRICAIRE (Canada) said the Special Rapporteur was to be congratulated for his report and his constructive remarks. A just, global and lasting peace could be achieved. Israel and Palestine should continue their efforts and respect the agreements made. The development of a civil society in which human rights were respected should be a goal regardless of the peace process. The human rights of the populations of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip continued to be denied. Palestinian institutions should be respected, and the advancement of the democratisation process encouraged. The social and economic needs of the Palestinian refugees also needed to be addressed, and their families reunified. Israeli practices in occupied territories, such as the establishment of settlements therein, were harmful to the peace process.
Ms. Gervais-Vidricaire said Israel had not fulfilled its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention, nor under humanitarian law. The continuing use of administrative detention and the use of moderate pressure was not acceptable, nor was the detention of Lebanese nationals as bargaining chips. Respect for the rights of the Palestinian people was vital. Concrete suggestions for the separation of power were necessary, and would be welcomed. The international community had a role to play in helping the Palestinians to achieve independence. A conference to consider measures to enforce the Fourth Geneva Convention in the occupied territories ought to be organised.
FAHAD AWAIDA AL-THANI (Qatar) said Israel’s continued building and expansion of settlements in the occupied territories was a violation of international law and human rights. These violations had started since Israel occupied the territories in 1967, and they continued up to today. The Israeli forces and their practices in the Syrian Golan Heights and the other occupied territories needed to be stopped. There was also a need to put an end to Israel’s continued violation of international law. The desire for peace could not be from only one side. Israel needed to withdraw from the occupied territories and to comply with United Nations resolutions. Israel’s occupying forces were a new form of oppression that needed to be condemned.
WANG MIN (China) said there had been much progress in the Middle East peace process but then, regrettably, Israel had suspended implementation of the Wye Plantation Memorandum. Also, peace talks between Israel and Syria and Israel and Lebanon were still at an impasse. Prolonged delay to a solution of the problem of the Middle East and Palestine not only endangered peace and stability in the region but had a negative effect on peace and development in the world. China believed that resolving the difficulties now existing in the Middle East would take a long time, as there were complex ethnic and religious issues involved, but it also believed that as long as all parties concerned stuck to the process, a solution eventually would be found.
China had always supported Palestinians' struggle for restoration of their legitimate national rights; China was not a mediator to the peace process, but had made contributions to push the process forward. It felt that relevant United Nations resolutions and the principle of land for peace should be the basis for peace talks, and that earnest implementation of all resolutions and understandings by all parties concerned was the key to breaking the current impasse.
JUAN FERNANDEZ PALACIOS (Cuba) said that this item had been a substantive item on the agenda since 1968. The Commission had quite unequivocally accepted the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to their own lands, and condemned the behaviour of the Israeli Government. The peace process was now dying, due to the deliberate policies of the current Israeli Government - in defiance of international agreements and law - which had a single aim, that of modifying the status quo, and assimilating by force the occupied territories.
Mr. Palacios said the methods employed by the Israeli forces were condemned as tantamount to torture. Israel ran the risk of becoming the first country to authorise torture as a legitimate means of obtaining confessions. The Golan Heights were also still occupied. The peace process was in its death throes, due to the continuing occupation of Palestinian territory. For a lasting peace, Israel had to withdraw from all occupied territories.
HASSAN ABDELMONEIM MOSTAFA (Egypt) said his country had continued its efforts for peace and stability in the occupied Arab territories and had advised Israel to withdraw from all the territories it had illegally occupied since 1967. Israel had continued its inhuman acts, including building of settlements which had been condemned by the international community, and violations of economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people. The report by the Special Rapporteur condemned Israel’s practices in the occupied territories.
Mr. Mostafa noted that Israel was also trying to change the demography of Jerusalem. Respect of the Fourth Geneva Convention and United Nations resolutions was needed for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East to be achieved.
TAHER AL-HUSSAMI (Syrian Arab Republic) said the Commission's job was not only to protect human rights but also to prevent violations of human rights; the Commission could do so if it enforced international instruments related to human rights. The inhabitants of the occupied Arab territories deserved to be spared continued violations of their human rights by the Israelis. There was no argument that Israel continued to violate international human-rights conventions in its activities in the occupied territories. It was time to enforce the United Nations Charter and relevant provisions of international law.
Continuation of Israeli behaviour along current lines was going to cause serious and widespread international damage, Mr. Hussami said. International human rights bodies and authorities were still barred from visiting the occupied areas; such flouting of international standards threatened the credibility of the standards after a while.
MOHAMED SAEED AL ATTAR (Yemen) said that whilst the international community condemned Israeli behaviour, the Israeli authorities continued to flagrantly violate human rights in the occupied territories, and to flout international law. The living conditions of the Palestinian people were deteriorating due to a deliberately negative policy by the Israeli Government. The latter was committing acts of aggression against Arab citizens, without any repercussions, and the Supreme Court permitted torture during interrogation, in flagrant violation of international instruments. The consequences of these violations were elaborated in the Special Rapporteur’s report. As long as the occupation continued, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur should be extended. His report was to be commended. The question of the violation of human rights in the occupied territories ought to be highly prioritised. Peace could not be achieved under current conditions, and the rights of the Palestinian people ought to be respected. Israel had to withdraw from the occupied territories.
MOHAMED OULD TIJANI (Mauritania) said the Israeli practices in the occupied territories, as described by different reports, continued to be of great concern because of the violations of human rights. Israel continued to impose and modify the status of Jerusalem. The fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be a clear sign to the Israeli Government to end its occupation and allow the peace process which was initiated in Madrid to be completed. Israel had to end its delay tactics and comply with international law.
Mr. Tijani said the Arab and Palestinian peoples in the occupied territories had long endured the Israel occupation. Was it too much to ask Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories? Peace could only be realised after Israel withdrew from all occupied territories. The international community had to put pressure on Israel in order for it to comply.
ABDULLAH MADADHA (Jordan) said occupation was a grave violation of every fundamental human right and a crime against international peace and security that should be given due attention and careful consideration by the Commission; this agenda item was not really about politics but about one of the worst violations of human rights this century. While Jordan fully supported the peace process, the process should not be an excuse for ignoring the discussion of the situation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories or for trying to find solutions to those problems in the absence of desired progress in the peace process.
Mr. Madadha said the continuation of Israeli settlement building and expansion in the occupied territories, expropriation of land, demolition of houses, and expulsion of local residents were abuses that simply had to be stopped. Jordan called upon Israel to recognize the human side of peace, for it was the other side of stability and security which everyone had an interest in striving for.
SILVIA DANILOV (Switzerland) said that international humanitarian and human rights laws both had as a goal the protection of persons for humanitarian reasons; but they also presented fundamental differences. A common link between the two was the proscription of torture. Torture continued to take place in Israel, in defiance of this proscription. A conference between the signatory parties, Israel and Palestine, would be vital for the re-launching of the peace process, and they were called upon to acquiesce to this. Switzerland had organised two meetings between the signatory parties with the goal of improving the situation.
Ms. Danilov said the respect of humanitarian law and human rights was not negotiable and should constitute the key to all negotiations for peace. Human rights were one of the priorities for Switzerland’s aid for development in the occupied territories. Whether it was aid for development, the promotion of peace or the improvement of law, the interest of those populations that were victims of violations of their human rights should be the priority, whoever the instigators of the violations were.
ALI KHORRAM (Iran) said the violation of human rights in occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories was not new. This occupation had violated the legitimate and inalienable rights of Palestinian and other Arabs to live freely in a land of their own. There had to be an end to suppression, repression, summary executions, arbitrary detentions and economic and social exclusion of the Palestinians and other Arabs. Unfortunately these calls had fallen on deaf ears and gross and systematic violations of human rights in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories continued.
Mr. Khorram said the policy of demolition of Palestinian and other Arab houses was widely exercised in the occupied territories. Detention and imprisonment of Palestinian and Arab prisoners were of great concern to the international community. Also the restrictions relating to freedom of movement in the occupied territories were imposed in different ways. There was a need to put an end to these violations and creating a Palestinian state in occupied Palestine.
NAJAT AL-HAJJAJI (the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) said that after 30 years, there was really nothing new in the situation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories; the occupation continued; violations of human rights went on as in every other year; the Palestinians' struggle continued; and Israel refused to respond to international calls for peace and compliance with recognized human-rights instruments.
The Israeli rulers were expanding settlements and constructing new ones; bypass roads were being built to prevent the populations from contacting each other and to destroy the cohesiveness of the Palestinian people; agricultural infrastructure was being destroyed; Palestinian land in Jerusalem was being confiscated and given to Jews; and the right to freedom of movement was being denied. With support and conniving by the United States, Israel continued to commit aggressive and massive human-rights violations, to take everything and to give nothing.
SAAD ALFARAGI (the League of Arab States) said Israel had occupied Palestinian and Arab territories since 1967. The situation had not changed, and violations of human rights continued, whilst General Assembly resolutions condemning the behaviour of the Israeli Government were ignored. Israeli settlements had continued to be built in Palestinian territories. Israel had consistently hampered the daily existence of Palestinians, despite the Wye River Memorandum. Torture continued to be practised, despite Israel’s ratification of the Convention against Torture. Collective punishments had continued, preventing Palestinians from enjoying their rights. There was a need to respect the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, and to allow him to continue his efforts in the area.
MOHAMED HASSAINE (Algeria) said the violation of human rights in the occupied territories was closely linked with peace. This peace would be possible if Israel withdrew from the territories occupied since 1967. The Israeli Government had placed obstacles as a tactic to cause the deadlock in the peace process. The report of the Special Rapporteur on the occupied Arab territories included information on Israel’s restriction of freedom of circulation, closing of territories, and destruction of homes of Palestinians. Also noted was Israel’s attempt to change the demography of East Jerusalem. The practice of torture, especially torture against Palestinian detainees, was another violation of human rights in the occupied territories.
Mr. Hassaine called on the international community to strongly condemn Israel’s actions of fait accompli in order to create a climate of trust.
MOHAMMED AL HUMAIMEEDI (Iraq) said that any fair-minded person or observant reader of the report of the Special Rapporteur on Iraq could discover the real aim of these suspicious reports through the methodology of their preparation. The Special Rapporteur had set himself a poisonous aim which manifested itself in provoking sectarianism, partitioning both the people and the territory of Iraq, and dividing the one Iraqi society into ethnic and religious groups. This did not serve human rights, rather it served political objectives with the aim of bringing harm to the Government of Iraq in consonance with the campaigns launched by hostile States and quarters.
Mr. Al Humaimeedi said the Government of Iraq had always been keen to protect all religions, proceeding from the rights and guarantees enshrined in the Iraqi Constitution and laws in force in this respect. This was ignored by the Special Rapporteur, as was the Iraqi Government’s reply to his query upon the surrounding circumstances of the assasination of Sheikh Al-Gharawi and Sheikh Al-Burujerdi.
The Special Rapporteur’s allegations of violations affecting Kurds as well as deportations and forced relocations were baseless, non-existent, and lacked credibility, Mr. Al Humaimeedi said. Iraq had fully complied with its obligations to respect the rights to food and the health of its citizens in a just and comprehensive manner. This question was also outside the Special Rapporteur’s mandate. Had he any objectivity, the Special Rapporteur would have referred to the low level of the performance of the United Nations agencies in implementing the part of the plan concerning the three northern governorates.
Mr. Al Humaimeedi also noted that had the Special Rapporteur been fair-minded and honest, he would have referred to the difficulties standing in the way of implementing the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations as a result of the great slowness in approving contracts and the suspension and rejection of a number of the contracts for purchasing food. The refusal of Iraq to allow United Nations personnel to make an assesment of the damage caused by the air strikes had been made clear in an official note. Reports made by United Nations-affiliated organizations on the damage were ignored by the Special Rapporteur. The Government of Iraq had always been keen to honour its international obligations voluntarily through presenting periodic reports to the related committees in expression of its sincere desire to cooperate with the mechanisms of human rights.
In conclusion, Mr. Al Humaimeedi said the question of missing Iraqis in Kuwait was also avoided by the Special Rapporteur. He had become a hostile party to the Iraqi people as he contributed in an unequivocal manner to implementing schemes aimed at dismembering Iraq and fragmenting its people in a manner inconsistent with the nature of work in the field of human rights. Iraq rejected the report of the Special Rapporteur, and its mendacious recommendations qualified as unjustified and open interference in Iraq’s affairs. Iraq would no longer deal with the Special Rapporteur.
A. MAACHOU, of the Arab Lawyers Union, said the situation in the occupied Arab territories every year remained the same despite efforts by the international community to change this. In December 1998, the peace process was suspended and this had caused frustrations and created tensions in the Middle East. The arbitural arrests of Palestinians and their torture by the Israel forces had been reported. In fact, Israel had become the first country to legalise torture. There were also frequent burnings of Palestinian homes, restrictions on movement, closures of territories; all were considered to be crimes of war and were practiced by Israel’s Government.
Mr. Maachou said the Israeli Government continued to ignore United Nations resolutions condeming these practices in the Syrian Golan and other occupied territories. Israel’s Government was also trying to change the demography of Jerusalem. It was trying to judasize Jerusalem by reducing the number of its Arab inhabitants. While in the past, the Palestinians had owned 90 per cent of the occupied territories, today, the Israeli Government controlled 90 per cent of the land.
LUZ ANGELA MELO, of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT), said Israel's attitude could in no way be seen as facilitating an improved understanding of the human-rights situation in the occupied territories; unfortunately, the OMCT had documented many cases of human-rights violations of people from occupied territories under Israeli control as well as in the Palestinian autonomous areas. With regard to the latter, OMCT acknowledged that the Palestinian Authority did not enjoy the same legal status as Israel and could not be held accountable in the same way, but nonetheless some gross violations committed by Palestinian officers must be denounced and the perpetrators sanctioned.
Ms. Melo said OMCT continued to receive reports of arbitrary and incommunicado detention, ill-treatment, and torture committed by Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners and detainees. And during the last 12 months, OMCT had continued to receive, mainly from Palestinian human-rights defenders, reports of numerous grave human-rights abuses by Palestinian authorities.
ISSAM YOUNIS, of the International Federation for Human Rights, said the human rights situation in Palestine continued to deteriorate, mainly as a result of illegal Israeli policies and actions. Israel continued to confiscate Palestinian land, although a peaceful climate should prevail in the region, and continued to violate the basic standards and principles of international humanitarian law. It continued to use torture and impose closures which violated the standards of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as the basic instruments of human rights. Closures affected all citizens, the most vulnerable of which were the thousands of families who depended on the income generated by their relatives working in Israel. In order to enforce the implementation of the Fourth Geneva Convention in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Conference of the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention should be convenend.
MARCO SASSOLI, of the International Commission of Jurists, supported the Special Rapporteur for reaffirming that sustainable peace could not be achieved without respect for human rights in the occupied territories and that the Fourth Geneva Convention continued to apply during the time of transition. Other aspects of the report were preoccupying. For example, the Special Rapporteur reported on human rights violations by the Palestinian Authority. These did not fall under his mandate.
DAVID LITTMAN, of the Association for World Education, and also speaking on behalf of the Association of World Citizens, said that nine years ago, he first had proposed the establishment of a United States of Abraham encompassing Israel, Jordan and Palestine; it was a true way to achieve peace in the region.
Mr. Littman said a Palestinian State, as a partner with Jordan and Israel, was on the horizon; a new spirit of mutual accceptance would flourish in the region when there was individual security and dignity for all; but it must be stressed that that could only occur if democratic institutions and respect for human rights became the bedrock of civil society in all countries of the Middle East. Without that spirit and that guarantee, the vision of such a confederation leading to an even wider regional grouping would remain a barren dream.
MARTIN MAGOHEBAN, of Amnesty International, said that over the past year, in the name of security, Israel had flouted its obligations according to human rights treaties that it had freely ratified, and had ignored recommendations made by United Nations treaty bodies. Many Palestinians had been arrested or routinely tortured or ill-treated. The present application of administrative detention was incompatible with articles 7 and 16 of the Covenant on Human Rights. Lebanese had also been held as bargaining-chips, and this was a violation of their human rights. Torture had been asserted as legal in Israel. Without human rights, there could be no genuine security and no sustainable peace. The Commission should call upon the Israeli Government to immediately cease violations of basic human rights and to fully apply United Nations human rights treaties, as well as the Fourth Geneva Convention in the occupied territories.
MONIKA GYSIN, of the Society for Threatened Peoples, said since the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel had aimed to maintain a Jewish majority in the city. In 1998, 788 identity cards were withdrawn, and because of this spouses and children were also affected. It was estimated that 8,000 people lost their residence permits for Jerusalem in the past 3 years. In Jerusalem, the Palestinians were considered immigrants, like foreign citizens who were subjected to foreign laws. Residence in Jerusalem was therefore a privilege, not a right.
Ms. Gysin said the Society for Threatened Peoples requested the Human Rights Commission to call upon the Israel Government to immediately halt its practice of withdrawing identification documents. The residents of East Jerusalem must be issued with permanent residence permits which they did not lose if they lived outside the city. It should also give back the identity documents which had been withdrawn from others. And lastly, the Government should allow the reunification of families.
Mr. AHMAD, of the World Muslim Congress, said violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people went beyond what had been mentioned repeatedly over the last 50 years and also included drastic alterations of the demographic character of their homeland; Arabs, Muslims, and Christians had formed 90 per cent of the population in 1918 but they had been reduced today to a minority; there was also general and overt discrimination against Palestinian Arabs within Israel. They were consistently denied their cultural, social, economic and political rights. Successive Israeli Governments had followed a policy of suppressing Palestinian identity, seeking to divide the community into "minorities within a minority".
Mr. Ahmad said Israel maintained its occupation of Southern Lebanon at enormous cost to the people of the territory; every act of legitimate resistance by Lebanese people was met with disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force. And in the Syrian Golan, Israel was busy changing the demographic character of the territory; it was constructing new roads and planned to bisect the region. The Commission must show its disapproval in the strongest terms.
HANNU HALINEN, Special Rapporteur on the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine, made three comments based on the debate. He said it seemed clear that the occupation overshadowed the development of human rights. By supporting human rights and peace, the Commission supported the end of the occupation. Human rights should be concentrated on in the context of peace and security. The Special Rapporteur hoped that the conclusion of the debate was that it was in the interest of Israel to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur, without conditions.
SAVITRI KUNADI (India) said her country took pride in its multi-cultural character and the Government fostered policies respecting the country's many languages, ethnicities, and religions; India also was convinced that democracy was the best guarantor of human rights. The country had problems, of course, and in some cases there was violence; but the Government tried to resolve these difficulties through dialogue that focused on the underlying causes.
Ms. Kunadi said India felt that approaches under the current agenda item would be most successful if they were balanced and favoured dialogue and persuasion over mere criticism; it was more effective to encourage self-criticism and positive change than to shine a spotlight constantly on problems, and an exclusive focus on monitoring and enforcing compliance with human-rights standards was unlikely to yield results. Some violations had to be condemned in the strongest terms, such as those committed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, but in general it was wise for the Commission to take more cooperative approaches to situations involving open and democratic societies where domestic remedies were available in ample measure.
Rights of Reply
NABIL RAMLAWI (Palestine), in right of reply, said that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur was to investigate the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine. Israel’s delegate had asked to change the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, but Palestine was strongly opposed to this.
MURAT SUNGAR (Turkey), in right of reply, responded to this morning’s speech by the Swedish Foreign Minister, Anna Lindh, who had said that Sweden found Turkey’s behaviour with regard to the Kurds unacceptable. Turkey found this statement unacceptable since it was erroneous. Turkey had a solid background of democracy, and did not hamper anyone from cherishing his or her subculture. The Mass Democratic Party had very little support from Kurdish citizens in Turkey. The Turkish nation would not fall into the trap of ethnic rivalry.
JOHAN MOLANDER (Sweden), in right of reply, said Turkey had misunderstood the statement made this morning. The denial of cultural, social, economic and political rights was the root cause for violence and ethnic rivalry and such was the situation in Turkey among the Kurds.
HR/CN/99/17
31 March 1999
Debate Begins on Violations of Human Rights Anywhere in World
Max van der Stoel, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iraq, told the Commission on Human Rights this afternoon that there continued to be credible allegations of numerous and systematic arbitrary executions in the country; interference with the independent religious practices of the Shi'ite community; internal deportations of ethnic Kurds; violations of the rights to food and health; and violations of the rights of the child.
A representative of Iraq charged in response that the Special Rapporteur had political objectives and had written his report with the "poisonous aim" of provoking sectarianism and partitioning the people and the territory of Iraq.
Over the course of the afternoon, the Commission concluded its discussion of the question of violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine. Numerous national representatives and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) criticized Israel's continued occupation of the territories and charged Israeli authorities with human-rights abuses. They urged the Israeli Government to implement the peace agreements it had signed.
Addressing the meeting were representatives of Sudan, Tunisia, Canada, Qatar, China, Cuba, Egypt, the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, Mauritania, Jordan, Switzerland, Iran, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the League of Arab States, Algeria, Iraq, and India.
Officials from the following non-governmental organizations also spoke: Arab Lawyers Union; World Organization against Torture; the International Federation of Human Rights; the International Commission of Jurists; the Association of World Education and Association of World Citizens (joint statement); Amnesty International; the Society for Threatened Peoples; and the World Muslim Congress.
And representatives of Palestine, Turkey, and Sweden spoke in exercise of the right of reply.
The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. Thursday, 1 April, to continue its review of the question of the violation of human rights in any part of the world. A series of Special Rapporteurs will introduce their reports at the beginning of the meeting.
Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world
Before the Commission under this agenda item is a report (E/CN.4/1999/37) from the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iraq. The report details the activities of the Special Rapporteur; the violations of civil and political rights in Iraq; violations affecting ethnic and religious communities including those of the southern marsh area, the Shi’ite community, and the Kurds; and other human rights violations. The report concludes, among others, that the gravity of the human rights situation in Iraq has few comparisons in the world since the end of the Second World War. It recommends that the Government of Iraq should immediately release all those who are being held, reveal the names of all those who have died in its custody, and invite the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and give it full and unrestricted access to all Iraqi prisons and detention centres. He recommends that the international community put pressure on Iraq to comply with these and previous report recommenda
tions.
Statements
MAX VAN DER STOEL, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iraq, introducing his annual report, said that over the past eight years, he had submitted almost 1,000 pages of reporting on this topic, and all the while serious human-rights violations had continued without the slightest indication of any change in the Iraqi Government’s policy or of any effort or intention to improve the situation. All the while, the Government had simply denied everything.
Mr. van der Stoel said he now had the sad duty to tell the Commission once again that there were credible allegations of numerous and systematic arbitrary executions in Iraq; interferences with the independent religious practices of the Shi'ite community; continuing internal deportations of ethnic Kurds; violations of the rights to food and health; and violations of the rights of the child. The Government continued to fail even to cooperate in efforts to resolve the hundreds of cases of missing Kuwaitis and others who disappeared under the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait years ago.
In addition, the Special Rapporteur said, he had received recent allegations of arbitrary executions of persons held within Iraqi prisons for various crimes, including for political reasons; reports indicated that army officers had been among the executed, including some top officers in the last few weeks allegedly for planning a military coup, and others in relation to unrest in southern Iraq following the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadek al-Sadr and his two sons. There also was evidence that Iraq was forcibly causing internal deportation of Kurds and Turkomans.
GASIM IDRIS (Sudan) said there were continued violations of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including East Jerusalem. Violations included assassinations of Palestinians, the detention without trial of thousands of Palestinians, and the expropriation of Palestinian land as a result of Israel’s expansionist ideas. International law prohibited the acquisition of land by force, and this had also been forbidden by the Security Council resolutions. Thus Israel’s continued acquisition of Palestinian land was null and void.
Israel had been asked to stop changing the demography of Jerusalem and it had to stop building settlements there. Israel’s violations in occupied Jerusalem had to stop. The withdrawal of Israel from territory occupied since 1967 in accordance to United Nations resolutions would put an end to the violations of human rights in this region.
KAMEL MORJANE (Tunisia) said violations of human rights continued day after day in occupied Palestine, the Syrian Golan, and other occupied territories; the root of the problem was the colonialist practices of the occupying Israeli authorities. The pattern was the same as in the past; Israeli settlements continued to be expanded and new ones to be constructed; Palestinian homes continued to be demolished; Palestinian detainees and prisoners continued to be maltreated; land closures continued to be carried out; and the Commission and General Assembly resolutions continued to be ignored.
Israel simply could not be allowed to continue to violate international standards and rules for legitimate behaviour. Tunisia had always supported the Middle East peace process, and it considered the land-for-peace process to be wise and effective. But hopes for implementing the peace agreements had been dashed; the Israeli Government had gone back on its commitments. This must not continue; no excuses should be accepted; Israel should return to a legitimate path to peace.
MARIE GERVAIS-VIDRICAIRE (Canada) said the Special Rapporteur was to be congratulated for his report and his constructive remarks. A just, global and lasting peace could be achieved. Israel and Palestine should continue their efforts and respect the agreements made. The development of a civil society in which human rights were respected should be a goal regardless of the peace process. The human rights of the populations of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip continued to be denied. Palestinian institutions should be respected, and the advancement of the democratisation process encouraged. The social and economic needs of the Palestinian refugees also needed to be addressed, and their families reunified. Israeli practices in occupied territories, such as the establishment of settlements therein, were harmful to the peace process.
Ms. Gervais-Vidricaire said Israel had not fulfilled its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention, nor under humanitarian law. The continuing use of administrative detention and the use of moderate pressure was not acceptable, nor was the detention of Lebanese nationals as bargaining chips. Respect for the rights of the Palestinian people was vital. Concrete suggestions for the separation of power were necessary, and would be welcomed. The international community had a role to play in helping the Palestinians to achieve independence. A conference to consider measures to enforce the Fourth Geneva Convention in the occupied territories ought to be organised.
FAHAD AWAIDA AL-THANI (Qatar) said Israel’s continued building and expansion of settlements in the occupied territories was a violation of international law and human rights. These violations had started since Israel occupied the territories in 1967, and they continued up to today. The Israeli forces and their practices in the Syrian Golan Heights and the other occupied territories needed to be stopped. There was also a need to put an end to Israel’s continued violation of international law. The desire for peace could not be from only one side. Israel needed to withdraw from the occupied territories and to comply with United Nations resolutions. Israel’s occupying forces were a new form of oppression that needed to be condemned.
WANG MIN (China) said there had been much progress in the Middle East peace process but then, regrettably, Israel had suspended implementation of the Wye Plantation Memorandum. Also, peace talks between Israel and Syria and Israel and Lebanon were still at an impasse. Prolonged delay to a solution of the problem of the Middle East and Palestine not only endangered peace and stability in the region but had a negative effect on peace and development in the world. China believed that resolving the difficulties now existing in the Middle East would take a long time, as there were complex ethnic and religious issues involved, but it also believed that as long as all parties concerned stuck to the process, a solution eventually would be found.
China had always supported Palestinians' struggle for restoration of their legitimate national rights; China was not a mediator to the peace process, but had made contributions to push the process forward. It felt that relevant United Nations resolutions and the principle of land for peace should be the basis for peace talks, and that earnest implementation of all resolutions and understandings by all parties concerned was the key to breaking the current impasse.
JUAN FERNANDEZ PALACIOS (Cuba) said that this item had been a substantive item on the agenda since 1968. The Commission had quite unequivocally accepted the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to their own lands, and condemned the behaviour of the Israeli Government. The peace process was now dying, due to the deliberate policies of the current Israeli Government - in defiance of international agreements and law - which had a single aim, that of modifying the status quo, and assimilating by force the occupied territories.
Mr. Palacios said the methods employed by the Israeli forces were condemned as tantamount to torture. Israel ran the risk of becoming the first country to authorise torture as a legitimate means of obtaining confessions. The Golan Heights were also still occupied. The peace process was in its death throes, due to the continuing occupation of Palestinian territory. For a lasting peace, Israel had to withdraw from all occupied territories.
HASSAN ABDELMONEIM MOSTAFA (Egypt) said his country had continued its efforts for peace and stability in the occupied Arab territories and had advised Israel to withdraw from all the territories it had illegally occupied since 1967. Israel had continued its inhuman acts, including building of settlements which had been condemned by the international community, and violations of economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people. The report by the Special Rapporteur condemned Israel’s practices in the occupied territories.
Mr. Mostafa noted that Israel was also trying to change the demography of Jerusalem. Respect of the Fourth Geneva Convention and United Nations resolutions was needed for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East to be achieved.
TAHER AL-HUSSAMI (Syrian Arab Republic) said the Commission's job was not only to protect human rights but also to prevent violations of human rights; the Commission could do so if it enforced international instruments related to human rights. The inhabitants of the occupied Arab territories deserved to be spared continued violations of their human rights by the Israelis. There was no argument that Israel continued to violate international human-rights conventions in its activities in the occupied territories. It was time to enforce the United Nations Charter and relevant provisions of international law.
Continuation of Israeli behaviour along current lines was going to cause serious and widespread international damage, Mr. Hussami said. International human rights bodies and authorities were still barred from visiting the occupied areas; such flouting of international standards threatened the credibility of the standards after a while.
MOHAMED SAEED AL ATTAR (Yemen) said that whilst the international community condemned Israeli behaviour, the Israeli authorities continued to flagrantly violate human rights in the occupied territories, and to flout international law. The living conditions of the Palestinian people were deteriorating due to a deliberately negative policy by the Israeli Government. The latter was committing acts of aggression against Arab citizens, without any repercussions, and the Supreme Court permitted torture during interrogation, in flagrant violation of international instruments. The consequences of these violations were elaborated in the Special Rapporteur’s report. As long as the occupation continued, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur should be extended. His report was to be commended. The question of the violation of human rights in the occupied territories ought to be highly prioritised. Peace could not be achieved under current conditions, and the rights of the Palestinian people ought to be respected. Israel had to withdraw from the occupied territories.
MOHAMED OULD TIJANI (Mauritania) said the Israeli practices in the occupied territories, as described by different reports, continued to be of great concern because of the violations of human rights. Israel continued to impose and modify the status of Jerusalem. The fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be a clear sign to the Israeli Government to end its occupation and allow the peace process which was initiated in Madrid to be completed. Israel had to end its delay tactics and comply with international law.
Mr. Tijani said the Arab and Palestinian peoples in the occupied territories had long endured the Israel occupation. Was it too much to ask Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories? Peace could only be realised after Israel withdrew from all occupied territories. The international community had to put pressure on Israel in order for it to comply.
ABDULLAH MADADHA (Jordan) said occupation was a grave violation of every fundamental human right and a crime against international peace and security that should be given due attention and careful consideration by the Commission; this agenda item was not really about politics but about one of the worst violations of human rights this century. While Jordan fully supported the peace process, the process should not be an excuse for ignoring the discussion of the situation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories or for trying to find solutions to those problems in the absence of desired progress in the peace process.
Mr. Madadha said the continuation of Israeli settlement building and expansion in the occupied territories, expropriation of land, demolition of houses, and expulsion of local residents were abuses that simply had to be stopped. Jordan called upon Israel to recognize the human side of peace, for it was the other side of stability and security which everyone had an interest in striving for.
SILVIA DANILOV (Switzerland) said that international humanitarian and human rights laws both had as a goal the protection of persons for humanitarian reasons; but they also presented fundamental differences. A common link between the two was the proscription of torture. Torture continued to take place in Israel, in defiance of this proscription. A conference between the signatory parties, Israel and Palestine, would be vital for the re-launching of the peace process, and they were called upon to acquiesce to this. Switzerland had organised two meetings between the signatory parties with the goal of improving the situation.
Ms. Danilov said the respect of humanitarian law and human rights was not negotiable and should constitute the key to all negotiations for peace. Human rights were one of the priorities for Switzerland’s aid for development in the occupied territories. Whether it was aid for development, the promotion of peace or the improvement of law, the interest of those populations that were victims of violations of their human rights should be the priority, whoever the instigators of the violations were.
ALI KHORRAM (Iran) said the violation of human rights in occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories was not new. This occupation had violated the legitimate and inalienable rights of Palestinian and other Arabs to live freely in a land of their own. There had to be an end to suppression, repression, summary executions, arbitrary detentions and economic and social exclusion of the Palestinians and other Arabs. Unfortunately these calls had fallen on deaf ears and gross and systematic violations of human rights in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories continued.
Mr. Khorram said the policy of demolition of Palestinian and other Arab houses was widely exercised in the occupied territories. Detention and imprisonment of Palestinian and Arab prisoners were of great concern to the international community. Also the restrictions relating to freedom of movement in the occupied territories were imposed in different ways. There was a need to put an end to these violations and creating a Palestinian state in occupied Palestine.
NAJAT AL-HAJJAJI (the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) said that after 30 years, there was really nothing new in the situation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories; the occupation continued; violations of human rights went on as in every other year; the Palestinians' struggle continued; and Israel refused to respond to international calls for peace and compliance with recognized human-rights instruments.
The Israeli rulers were expanding settlements and constructing new ones; bypass roads were being built to prevent the populations from contacting each other and to destroy the cohesiveness of the Palestinian people; agricultural infrastructure was being destroyed; Palestinian land in Jerusalem was being confiscated and given to Jews; and the right to freedom of movement was being denied. With support and conniving by the United States, Israel continued to commit aggressive and massive human-rights violations, to take everything and to give nothing.
SAAD ALFARAGI (the League of Arab States) said Israel had occupied Palestinian and Arab territories since 1967. The situation had not changed, and violations of human rights continued, whilst General Assembly resolutions condemning the behaviour of the Israeli Government were ignored. Israeli settlements had continued to be built in Palestinian territories. Israel had consistently hampered the daily existence of Palestinians, despite the Wye River Memorandum. Torture continued to be practised, despite Israel’s ratification of the Convention against Torture. Collective punishments had continued, preventing Palestinians from enjoying their rights. There was a need to respect the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, and to allow him to continue his efforts in the area.
MOHAMED HASSAINE (Algeria) said the violation of human rights in the occupied territories was closely linked with peace. This peace would be possible if Israel withdrew from the territories occupied since 1967. The Israeli Government had placed obstacles as a tactic to cause the deadlock in the peace process. The report of the Special Rapporteur on the occupied Arab territories included information on Israel’s restriction of freedom of circulation, closing of territories, and destruction of homes of Palestinians. Also noted was Israel’s attempt to change the demography of East Jerusalem. The practice of torture, especially torture against Palestinian detainees, was another violation of human rights in the occupied territories.
Mr. Hassaine called on the international community to strongly condemn Israel’s actions of fait accompli in order to create a climate of trust.
MOHAMMED AL HUMAIMEEDI (Iraq) said that any fair-minded person or observant reader of the report of the Special Rapporteur on Iraq could discover the real aim of these suspicious reports through the methodology of their preparation. The Special Rapporteur had set himself a poisonous aim which manifested itself in provoking sectarianism, partitioning both the people and the territory of Iraq, and dividing the one Iraqi society into ethnic and religious groups. This did not serve human rights, rather it served political objectives with the aim of bringing harm to the Government of Iraq in consonance with the campaigns launched by hostile States and quarters.
Mr. Al Humaimeedi said the Government of Iraq had always been keen to protect all religions, proceeding from the rights and guarantees enshrined in the Iraqi Constitution and laws in force in this respect. This was ignored by the Special Rapporteur, as was the Iraqi Government’s reply to his query upon the surrounding circumstances of the assasination of Sheikh Al-Gharawi and Sheikh Al-Burujerdi.
The Special Rapporteur’s allegations of violations affecting Kurds as well as deportations and forced relocations were baseless, non-existent, and lacked credibility, Mr. Al Humaimeedi said. Iraq had fully complied with its obligations to respect the rights to food and the health of its citizens in a just and comprehensive manner. This question was also outside the Special Rapporteur’s mandate. Had he any objectivity, the Special Rapporteur would have referred to the low level of the performance of the United Nations agencies in implementing the part of the plan concerning the three northern governorates.
Mr. Al Humaimeedi also noted that had the Special Rapporteur been fair-minded and honest, he would have referred to the difficulties standing in the way of implementing the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations as a result of the great slowness in approving contracts and the suspension and rejection of a number of the contracts for purchasing food. The refusal of Iraq to allow United Nations personnel to make an assesment of the damage caused by the air strikes had been made clear in an official note. Reports made by United Nations-affiliated organizations on the damage were ignored by the Special Rapporteur. The Government of Iraq had always been keen to honour its international obligations voluntarily through presenting periodic reports to the related committees in expression of its sincere desire to cooperate with the mechanisms of human rights.
In conclusion, Mr. Al Humaimeedi said the question of missing Iraqis in Kuwait was also avoided by the Special Rapporteur. He had become a hostile party to the Iraqi people as he contributed in an unequivocal manner to implementing schemes aimed at dismembering Iraq and fragmenting its people in a manner inconsistent with the nature of work in the field of human rights. Iraq rejected the report of the Special Rapporteur, and its mendacious recommendations qualified as unjustified and open interference in Iraq’s affairs. Iraq would no longer deal with the Special Rapporteur.
A. MAACHOU, of the Arab Lawyers Union, said the situation in the occupied Arab territories every year remained the same despite efforts by the international community to change this. In December 1998, the peace process was suspended and this had caused frustrations and created tensions in the Middle East. The arbitural arrests of Palestinians and their torture by the Israel forces had been reported. In fact, Israel had become the first country to legalise torture. There were also frequent burnings of Palestinian homes, restrictions on movement, closures of territories; all were considered to be crimes of war and were practiced by Israel’s Government.
Mr. Maachou said the Israeli Government continued to ignore United Nations resolutions condeming these practices in the Syrian Golan and other occupied territories. Israel’s Government was also trying to change the demography of Jerusalem. It was trying to judasize Jerusalem by reducing the number of its Arab inhabitants. While in the past, the Palestinians had owned 90 per cent of the occupied territories, today, the Israeli Government controlled 90 per cent of the land.
LUZ ANGELA MELO, of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT), said Israel's attitude could in no way be seen as facilitating an improved understanding of the human-rights situation in the occupied territories; unfortunately, the OMCT had documented many cases of human-rights violations of people from occupied territories under Israeli control as well as in the Palestinian autonomous areas. With regard to the latter, OMCT acknowledged that the Palestinian Authority did not enjoy the same legal status as Israel and could not be held accountable in the same way, but nonetheless some gross violations committed by Palestinian officers must be denounced and the perpetrators sanctioned.
Ms. Melo said OMCT continued to receive reports of arbitrary and incommunicado detention, ill-treatment, and torture committed by Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners and detainees. And during the last 12 months, OMCT had continued to receive, mainly from Palestinian human-rights defenders, reports of numerous grave human-rights abuses by Palestinian authorities.
ISSAM YOUNIS, of the International Federation for Human Rights, said the human rights situation in Palestine continued to deteriorate, mainly as a result of illegal Israeli policies and actions. Israel continued to confiscate Palestinian land, although a peaceful climate should prevail in the region, and continued to violate the basic standards and principles of international humanitarian law. It continued to use torture and impose closures which violated the standards of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as the basic instruments of human rights. Closures affected all citizens, the most vulnerable of which were the thousands of families who depended on the income generated by their relatives working in Israel. In order to enforce the implementation of the Fourth Geneva Convention in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Conference of the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention should be convenend.
MARCO SASSOLI, of the International Commission of Jurists, supported the Special Rapporteur for reaffirming that sustainable peace could not be achieved without respect for human rights in the occupied territories and that the Fourth Geneva Convention continued to apply during the time of transition. Other aspects of the report were preoccupying. For example, the Special Rapporteur reported on human rights violations by the Palestinian Authority. These did not fall under his mandate.
DAVID LITTMAN, of the Association for World Education, and also speaking on behalf of the Association of World Citizens, said that nine years ago, he first had proposed the establishment of a United States of Abraham encompassing Israel, Jordan and Palestine; it was a true way to achieve peace in the region.
Mr. Littman said a Palestinian State, as a partner with Jordan and Israel, was on the horizon; a new spirit of mutual accceptance would flourish in the region when there was individual security and dignity for all; but it must be stressed that that could only occur if democratic institutions and respect for human rights became the bedrock of civil society in all countries of the Middle East. Without that spirit and that guarantee, the vision of such a confederation leading to an even wider regional grouping would remain a barren dream.
MARTIN MAGOHEBAN, of Amnesty International, said that over the past year, in the name of security, Israel had flouted its obligations according to human rights treaties that it had freely ratified, and had ignored recommendations made by United Nations treaty bodies. Many Palestinians had been arrested or routinely tortured or ill-treated. The present application of administrative detention was incompatible with articles 7 and 16 of the Covenant on Human Rights. Lebanese had also been held as bargaining-chips, and this was a violation of their human rights. Torture had been asserted as legal in Israel. Without human rights, there could be no genuine security and no sustainable peace. The Commission should call upon the Israeli Government to immediately cease violations of basic human rights and to fully apply United Nations human rights treaties, as well as the Fourth Geneva Convention in the occupied territories.
MONIKA GYSIN, of the Society for Threatened Peoples, said since the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel had aimed to maintain a Jewish majority in the city. In 1998, 788 identity cards were withdrawn, and because of this spouses and children were also affected. It was estimated that 8,000 people lost their residence permits for Jerusalem in the past 3 years. In Jerusalem, the Palestinians were considered immigrants, like foreign citizens who were subjected to foreign laws. Residence in Jerusalem was therefore a privilege, not a right.
Ms. Gysin said the Society for Threatened Peoples requested the Human Rights Commission to call upon the Israel Government to immediately halt its practice of withdrawing identification documents. The residents of East Jerusalem must be issued with permanent residence permits which they did not lose if they lived outside the city. It should also give back the identity documents which had been withdrawn from others. And lastly, the Government should allow the reunification of families.
Mr. AHMAD, of the World Muslim Congress, said violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people went beyond what had been mentioned repeatedly over the last 50 years and also included drastic alterations of the demographic character of their homeland; Arabs, Muslims, and Christians had formed 90 per cent of the population in 1918 but they had been reduced today to a minority; there was also general and overt discrimination against Palestinian Arabs within Israel. They were consistently denied their cultural, social, economic and political rights. Successive Israeli Governments had followed a policy of suppressing Palestinian identity, seeking to divide the community into "minorities within a minority".
Mr. Ahmad said Israel maintained its occupation of Southern Lebanon at enormous cost to the people of the territory; every act of legitimate resistance by Lebanese people was met with disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force. And in the Syrian Golan, Israel was busy changing the demographic character of the territory; it was constructing new roads and planned to bisect the region. The Commission must show its disapproval in the strongest terms.
HANNU HALINEN, Special Rapporteur on the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine, made three comments based on the debate. He said it seemed clear that the occupation overshadowed the development of human rights. By supporting human rights and peace, the Commission supported the end of the occupation. Human rights should be concentrated on in the context of peace and security. The Special Rapporteur hoped that the conclusion of the debate was that it was in the interest of Israel to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur, without conditions.
SAVITRI KUNADI (India) said her country took pride in its multi-cultural character and the Government fostered policies respecting the country's many languages, ethnicities, and religions; India also was convinced that democracy was the best guarantor of human rights. The country had problems, of course, and in some cases there was violence; but the Government tried to resolve these difficulties through dialogue that focused on the underlying causes.
Ms. Kunadi said India felt that approaches under the current agenda item would be most successful if they were balanced and favoured dialogue and persuasion over mere criticism; it was more effective to encourage self-criticism and positive change than to shine a spotlight constantly on problems, and an exclusive focus on monitoring and enforcing compliance with human-rights standards was unlikely to yield results. Some violations had to be condemned in the strongest terms, such as those committed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, but in general it was wise for the Commission to take more cooperative approaches to situations involving open and democratic societies where domestic remedies were available in ample measure.
Rights of Reply
NABIL RAMLAWI (Palestine), in right of reply, said that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur was to investigate the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine. Israel’s delegate had asked to change the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, but Palestine was strongly opposed to this.
MURAT SUNGAR (Turkey), in right of reply, responded to this morning’s speech by the Swedish Foreign Minister, Anna Lindh, who had said that Sweden found Turkey’s behaviour with regard to the Kurds unacceptable. Turkey found this statement unacceptable since it was erroneous. Turkey had a solid background of democracy, and did not hamper anyone from cherishing his or her subculture. The Mass Democratic Party had very little support from Kurdish citizens in Turkey. The Turkish nation would not fall into the trap of ethnic rivalry.
JOHAN MOLANDER (Sweden), in right of reply, said Turkey had misunderstood the statement made this morning. The denial of cultural, social, economic and political rights was the root cause for violence and ethnic rivalry and such was the situation in Turkey among the Kurds.