UN Special Committee on Israeli Practices to visit Egypt, Jordan and Syria

GENEVA -- The UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories will visit Egypt from 04 to 07 August, Jordan from 07 to 11 August, and Syria from 11 to 14 August, 2009.

“It is crucial for the Special Committee to ascertain the extent to which the Israeli war on Gaza early this year has adversely and negatively affected the Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT),” said its acting chairman, Ambassador Hamidon Ali, Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the UN in New York.

“The Special Committee, of course, will have to take into account the findings of the several other investigations conducted in the aftermath of the war on Gaza by other bodies and investigative teams in formulating its recommendations to the General Assembly,” stressed Ambassador Ali

Since its establishment in 1968, the Special Committee has repeatedly been denied cooperation by the Government of Israel or access to the OPT. It has nonetheless benefited from the cooperation and information provided by representatives from the Governments of countries visited, and many witnesses from Israel and Occupied Territories.

The information gathered during these hearings, from witnesses having first-hand and recent experience of the human rights situation in the OPT, from Governmental representatives, and from a wide range of other interlocutors is taken into account in the Special Committee's reports to the General Assembly*. Its conclusions contain an evaluation of the situation as well as recommendations.

Ambassador Ali currently chairs the Special Committee, due to the absence of the Sri Lankan Ambassador. Senegal is represented by Ambassador Babacar Mbaye, Permanent Representative of that country to the UN in Geneva, while Ms. Samantha Yajasuriya, counselor at the Sri Lankan Mission to the UN in New York, is representing her country.

The Special Committee, established by the General Assembly on 19 December 1968, is composed of three Member States: Sri Lanka (Chairman), Malaysia and Senegal. Its mandate was renewed for an additional year on 18 December 2008 by the UN General Assembly.