UN Special Rapporteur on situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory to conduct visit

GENEVA (25 June 2018) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, begins his annual official mission to the region on 25 June, through Friday 29 June 2018.

The Special Rapporteur will gather first-hand information on the current human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Due to Israel's lack of response to the Special Rapporteur's request to travel to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, he will hold meetings in Amman, Jordan.

During his mission, the Special Rapporteur will meet with officials, community leaders and civil society representatives, among others.  He will discuss the human rights situation across the Occupied Palestinian Territory with a focus on gathering evidence and information that will inform his first report.

The Special Rapporteur will present his annual report to the General Assembly in October 2018 on his findings and conclusions.

ENDS

Mr. Michael Lynk was designated by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016 as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The mandate was originally established in 1993 by the then UN Commission on Human Rights. Professor Lynk is Associate Professor of Law at Western University in London, Ontario, where he teaches labour law, constitutional law and human rights law. Before becoming an academic, he practiced labour law and refugee law for a decade in Ottawa and Toronto. He also worked for the United Nations on human rights and refugee issues in Jerusalem.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, Country Page: Occupied Palestinian Territories  and Israel 

For more information and media requests, please contact Katharine Marshall (+41 22 917 9695 / kmarshall@ohchr.org) and Sarah Jacquier Nobel (+41 (0) 22 917 9365 / sjacquiernobel@ohchr.org).

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Jeremy Laurence (+ 41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN on 10 December 1948. The Universal Declaration – translated into a world record 500 languages – is rooted in the principle that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” It remains relevant to everyone, every day. In honour of the 70th anniversary of this extraordinarily influential document, and to prevent its vital principles from being eroded, we are urging people everywhere to Stand Up for Human Rights: www.standup4humanrights.org