United Nations A/HRC/RES/15/6 Distr.: General 6 October 2010 Original: English General Assembly Human Rights Council Fifteenth session Agenda item 7 Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council* 15/6 Follow-up to the report of the Committee of independent experts in international humanitarian and human rights law established pursuant to Council resolution 13/9 The Human Rights Council, Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Recalling its relevant resolutions, including resolutions S-9/1 of 12 January 2009, S-12/1 of 16 October 2009 and 13/9 of 25 March 2010, adopted in follow-up to the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the report of the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict,1 Recalling also relevant General Assembly resolutions, including resolutions 64/10 of 5 November 2009 and 64/254 of 26 February 2010, adopted in follow-up to the report of the Fact-Finding Mission, Recalling further relevant rules and principles of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, in particular the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, applicable to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, * The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of the Council on its fifteenth session (A/HRC/15/60), chap. I. 1 A/HRC/12/48. GE.10-16619 A/HRC/RES/15/6 Reaffirming the obligation of all parties to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law, Reiterating the importance of the safety and well-being of all civilians, and reaffirming the obligation of the international community to ensure the protection of civilians in armed conflicts, Stressing the need to ensure accountability for all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in order to prevent impunity, ensure justice, deter further violations and promote peace, 1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General,2 and requests the SecretaryGeneral to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict,1 in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution S-12/1; 2. Also takes note of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,3 and requests the High Commissioner to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Fact-Finding Mission, in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution S-12/1; 3. Welcomes the report of the Committee of independent experts in international humanitarian and human rights law to monitor and assess any domestic, legal or other proceedings undertaken by both the Government of Israel and the Palestinian side, including the independence, effectiveness and genuineness of these investigations and their conformity with international standards;4 4. Warmly welcomes the cooperation of the Palestinian National Authority with the Committee of independent experts, and the report submitted to the Secretary-General on the investigations carried out by the Palestinian Independent Investigation Commission established pursuant to the Goldstone report;5 5. Urges the Palestinian Independent Investigation Commission to complete its investigations in order to cover the allegations relating to the occupied Gaza Strip, as contained in the report of the Fact-Finding Mission; 6. Condemns the non-cooperation by Israel, the occupying Power, which hampered the assessment by the Committee of independent experts of Israel's response to the call by the General Assembly and the Council to conduct investigations that are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards; 7. Urges Israel, the occupying Power, in compliance with its duties to complete investigations in conformity with international standards of independence, thoroughness, effectiveness and promptness into the serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law reported by the Fact-Finding Mission; 8. Decides to renew and resume the mandate of the Committee of independent experts, established pursuant to Council resolution 13/9, and requests the Committee to submit its report to the Council at its sixteenth session, and requests the High Commissioner to continue to provide the members of the Committee with all administrative, technical and logistic assistance required to enable them to fulfil their mandate promptly and efficiently; 2 3 4 5 A/HRC/15/51. A/HRC/15/52. A/HRC/15/50. See A/64/890, annex II. 2 A/HRC/RES/15/6 9. Requests the High Commissioner to present a report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Council at its sixteenth session; 10. Decides to remain seized of this matter. 30th meeting 29 September 2010 [Adopted by a recorded vote of 27 to 1, with 19 abstentions. The voting was as follows: In favour: Angola, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand, Uganda, Uruguay Against: United States of America Abstaining: Belgium, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, France, Guatemala, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Zambia] 3