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

GENEVA / NEW YORK (4 June 2010) – The 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 8 to 11 June, Jordan from 11 to 16 June, and Syria from 16 to 19 June 2010.

The Special Committee was established in December 1968 by the UN General Assembly to examine the human rights situation across the occupied territories. These include the occupied Syrian Arab Golan, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip.

Since its establishment, the Government of Israel has failed to accommodate requests by the Committee to visit the occupied territories. As a result, the Committee conducts an annual visit to the neighbouring countries of Egypt, Jordan and Syria in order to gather information from witnesses with first-hand experience of the human rights situation in the occupied territories.

The Committee also meets with Government representatives, UN agencies and other stakeholders. Over the years, the Committee has benefited from the cooperation and information provided by representatives of the Governments of the countries visited.

At the end of the mission, the Committee will prepare its annual report to the General Assembly, based on the information gathered on its mission and on other public sources. The report will contain the Committee’s evaluation of the situation and its recommendations to the General Assembly to improve the human rights situation for those whose lives are affected by the ongoing occupation.

The Special Committee is composed of three Member States: Sri Lanka (Chairman), Malaysia and Senegal. This year the Member States are represented by: Palitha T.B.Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York; Hamidon Ali, Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations in New York; and Momar Gueye, Minister Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Senegal to the United Nations in Geneva.

A press release will be issued at the end of the mission.

The Special Committee was established by the General Assembly in December 1968; its mandate was renewed again for an additional year in January 2010.

Check the Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, of 9 September 2009: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N09/505/37/PDF/N0950537.pdf?OpenElement