On Monday the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will vote on granting UN NGO status for the "Palestinian Return Centre," an NGO with close ties to Hamas. UN NGO accreditation gives an NGO the opportunity to speak at designated UN gatherings, like the UN Human Rights Council. Accrediting this NGO, in effect, will give Hamas - a terrorist organization - a voice at the meetings of the UN's top human rights body.
The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) is a London-based organization affiliated with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gave the keynote address at its annual meeting in 2009. According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, leaders of the PRC have actively recruited and fundraised for Hamas through the organization Interpal, which is designated as a terror organization by the United States. In December 2010, the Israel Security Agency under the leadership of Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak declared the PRC to be an "unlawful association because it is part of the Hamas movement."
At the same time that ECOSOC will be taking up the Palestinian Return Centre, it will not be granting UN NGO status to the NGO "Zaka Rescue and Recovery." Zaka is the Israeli-based NGO whose members voluntarily undertake the gut-wrenching task of picking up the body parts left behind by Hamas terror, for burial. Zaka is also active in the fields of emergency response, search and rescue, and accident prevention, and was among the first responders at the Tsunami in Japan, the earthquake in Haiti, and terror attacks in Turkey, Mombasa and Taba, among others. In June 2015, the UN committee on NGOs, that considers the NGO applications for UN status prior to final approval by ECOSOC, decided to "defer" Zaka Rescue and Recovery over the objections of the United States and Israel. In an effort to prevent their accreditation, Zaka's application has been deferred five times since it was first introduced in June 2013.
Spear-heading approval of the Palestinian Return Centre is Sudan. Sudan is a member of the UN NGO Committee, along with 18 other states - including countries that routinely subjugate the rights of NGOs and their members: Azerbaijan, Burundi, China, Cuba, Iran, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Turkey, and Venezuela.
At the UN, the fact that Sudan's President is currently under indictment by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity, does not affect Sudan's ability to decide what is and what is not an NGO that operates consistently with the purposes and principles of the United Nations - the essential requirement for accreditation.