Thank you, Mr. President. Israel takes this opportunity to raise the following human rights situations which require the Councils attention. Mr. President, Irans violent response to the peaceful demonstrations of its citizens to suspected electoral fraud in the June 2009 presidential elections must be properly addressed by this Council. Arming itself with rhetorical condemnations against other states, Iran has made it a practice to shield itself beneath a cloak of impunity, remitting itself from responsibility for the egregious human rights violations committed against its own population. Irans true colors reflect a government that sponsors a campaign of intimidation and violence against political opponents and which further prescribes to draconic policies that support inter alia the suppression of freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of assembly and association, and freedom of the press, by violent means. In the fight for fair and free elections, many Iranians have been killed, and hundreds more injured, while merely exercising their fundamental right to the most basic of freedoms. The protests were peaceful, no weapons were used, and at no point were the civilians posing a threat to the national security of the Iranian regime. The government has imposed a policy of arbitrary detention, the absence of legal representation, torture to emit forced confessions, and rape, to await politicians, peaceful protestors, and human rights defenders, among many others, that have raised their revolutionary voices to protest an undemocratic electoral process. Israel calls upon the Council to properly address this human rights situation of serious concern in the appropriate forum. Mr. President, Israel appreciates the interest in balancing the need for States to combat the dangers of terrorism's impact upon the human rights of innocent civilians, and the challenge for counter-terrorism measures to preserve the rights of all persons. With this in mind, Israel must express its concern regarding the present human rights situations in Yemen. Israel therefore calls upon both sides of the conflict to respect international law, to take all precautionary measures to protect civilian life, and to investigate all alleged violations of international law. In particular, the conflict between the Yemeni government and rebels has seen the death of thousands of civilians, over a hundred thousand displaced persons, and most recently on 17 September alone, eighty-seven civilians killed when a internally displaced persons camp came under aerial attack. In this regard, Israel echoes the High Commissioners call to the Yemeni government to "launch a full-fledged

investigation into what went wrong and take immediate measures to ensure we do not see a further avoidable tragedy of this nature". The human rights situation in Yemen has been said to be a humanitarian disaster that will soon become a humanitarian catastrophe. The climate devoid of peace and security in Somalia due to the civil war of sixteen years is also a cause of serious concern. The ongoing conflict has detrimentally affected the realization of fundamental rights and freedoms of Somali civilians, in particular women, children and vulnerable groups. In this regard, Israel gives its continued support to the OHCHR and the independent expert on Somalia. Mr. President, All too often serious human rights situations of concern are cast aside in the Council in favor of politicized favorites among the automatic majority; its high time for certain states to take the ostrichs head out of the sand and confront these serious human rights issues without catering to political agendas. The people of Iran, Somalia, Yemen, and many others, are relying on us. Thank you.