United Nations

A/57/314
Distr.: General 16 August 2002 Original: English

General Assembly

Fifty-seventh session Item 78 of the provisional agenda* Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories

Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
Report of the Secretary-General**
1. The present report is submitted in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 56/59 of 10 December 2001, the operative part of which reads as follows: "The General Assembly, "... "1. Commends the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories for its efforts in performing the tasks assigned to it by the General Assembly and for its impartiality; "2. Demands that Israel cooperate with the Special Committee in implementing its mandate; "3. Deplores those policies and practices of Israel which violate the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories, as reflected in the reports of the Special Committee covering the reporting period; "4. Expresses grave concern about the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, as a result of Israeli practices and measures, and especially condemns the excessive use of force in the past year which has resulted in more than seven hundred Palestinian deaths and tens of thousands of injuries;

* A/57/150. ** This document is submitted late so as to include the most up-to-date information possible.

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"5. Requests the Special Committee, pending complete termination of the Israeli occupation, to continue to investigate Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, especially Israeli lack of compliance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and to consult, as appropriate, with the International Committee of the Red Cross according to its regulations in order to ensure that the welfare and human rights of the peoples of the occupied territories are safeguarded and to report to the SecretaryGeneral as soon as possible and whenever the need arises thereafter; "6. Also requests the Special Committee to submit regularly to the Secretary-General periodic reports on the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem; "7. Further requests the Special Committee to continue to investigate the treatment of prisoners in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967; "8. Requests the Secretary-General:

(a) To provide the Special Committee with all necessary facilities, including those required for its visits to the occupied territories, so that it may investigate the Israeli policies and practices referred to in the present resolution; (b) To continue to make available such additional staff as may be necessary to assist the Special Committee in the performance of its tasks; (c) To circulate regularly to Member States the periodic reports mentioned in paragraph 6 above; (d) To ensure the widest circulation of the reports of the Special Committee and of information regarding its activities and findings, by all means available, through the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat and, where necessary, to reprint those reports of the Special Committee that are no longer available; (e) To report to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session on the tasks entrusted to him in the present resolution; "9. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-seventh session the item entitled `Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories'." 2. All necessary facilities were provided to the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. Arrangements were made for the Special Committee to meet on 20 and 21 June 2002. Furthermore, the Special Committee carried out a field mission to Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic from 23 June to 6 July 2002.

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3. Pursuant to paragraph 8 (d) of resolution 56/59, the Department of Public Information undertook the following activities: (a) The revised and updated version of the Department's publication entitled The Question of Palestine and the United Nations, contains extensive references to the reports of the Special Committee, including sections dealing with questions of human rights, settlements and refugees. The book, which was recently cleared for publication, is currently being processed and should soon be available for distribution. Sections of the book will be posted on the United Nations web site; (b) The reports of the Special Committee were extensively covered by the Department in its daily news coverage. The debates in the Commission on Human Rights and at the General Assembly, referring to the reports, were covered in press releases (English and French) as well as on the United Nations web site; (c) Electronic copies of the reports of the Special Committee are made available to the public by the Department's Public Inquiries Unit upon request and to the delegations by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library. 4. On 10 June 2002, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to all Member States drawing attention to resolutions 56/59, 56/60, 56/61, 56/62 and 56/63 of 10 December 2001.

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