United Nations A/71/315 Distr.: General 9 August 2016 Original: English General Assembly Seventy-first session Item 50 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 Summary The present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/87, concerns the provision of the facilities and staff necessary to support the work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. * A/71/150. 16-13779 (E) *1613779* 170816 A/71/315 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/87. In line with paragraph 8 of that resolution, the Secretariat continued to provide the facilities and staff necessary to support the work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. In 2016, the Special Committee was represented by the following three members: the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York, Amrith Rohan Perera; the Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations in New York, Ramlan Bin Ibrahim; and the Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, M ame Baba Cisse. 2. The Special Committee was directly supported in the fulfilment of its mandate by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Department of Safety and Security of the Secretariat, the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat and the office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Jordan. In addition, the Committee engaged with OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations Children's Fund and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 3. Much of the support was related to the Special Committee's annual investigative mission to the region. In the light of the continuing prac tice of Israel of non-cooperation with the Committee, the latter was not able to visit the occupied territories. The Committee therefore held meetings in Amman from 2 to 5 May 2016. In addition, it held consultations with several Member States on 21 and 22 March 2016 in Geneva. During its mission to Amman, the Committee collected testimony and information from victims, witnesses, officials and civil society representatives working on documenting and preventing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the occupied territories. Those testimonies and briefings are recorded in the Committee's report to the General Assembly at its seventy-first session. Department of Public Information 4. Pursuant to paragraph 8 (d) of resolution 70/87, the Department of Public Information continued to cover and promote the activities of the Special Committee during the reporting period, using its entire range of communications platforms in multiple languages. 5. United Nations Radio covered in the six official languages of the United Nations, in addition to Portuguese and Kiswahili, all principal activities and statements on the subject matter, including meetings of and statements by the Special Committee. 6. The Department continued to promote issues relating to the work of the Special Committee through the United Nations website in the six official languages. News stories appearing on the United Nations News Centre platforms were also distributed through social media accounts, via rich site summa ry feeds and by means of the portal's e-mail news service subscription. 2/3 16-13779 A/71/315 7. The Department's webcasting services provided live and on -demand coverage to a global audience through United Nations Web TV (webtv.un.org) of all open meetings relating to the work of the Special Committee. 8. The Department's Meetings Coverage Section provided coverage of the Special Committee's reports when they were taken up by the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) and by the General Assembly. In that context, the Section issued 10 press releases in English and French. The Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit, together with the associated Media Documents Centre, e-mailed the Committee's documents and related press releases to their clients and used social media to inform their followers about the Committee's activities. 9. The Yearbook of the United Nations, as the authoritative reference on the annual activities and concerns of the Organization, continued to regularly cover the work of the Special Committee. 10. The Department's network of 63 United Nations information centres, services and offices was also active in promoting the human rights of the Palestinian people through the commemoration of relevant international days and observances and public information activities. 11. Issues relating to Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people were also discussed in the context of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which was observed at Headquarters on 23 November 2015 and across the globe with targeted public information activities by the United Nations information centres, services and offices. The activities included film screenings, panel discussions and forums, interviews with experts and Pale stinians, exhibits and messages to raise awareness of the rights of the Palestinian people and to end discrimination faced by Palestinians and other Arabs living in the occupied territories. 12. The United Nations Information Centre in Cairo supported the annual factfinding visit of the Special Committee to the region from 2 to 5 May 2016 through media outreach and liaison. 16-13779 3/3