Statement of the African Group on the Report of the Special Rapporteur John Dugard on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian territory

September 29, 2006
Original Source: http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/conferences/hrc2006/two/hrc060929pm-eng.rm?start=00:31:22&end=00:35:45

Mr President, we’ve been listening very carefully and with great concern to the report of Mr Dugard, Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian territories, occupied since 1967.  This report shows us the flagrant violations perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people. The report states that rarely in history has there been an occupation which resorts to so much arbitrary violence, together with an economic and military blockade, which is stifling.  The Human Rights Council is not political forum, and neither is it the Security Council—however, it is the conscience of mankind and it incarnates the values which we all hold dear.  We can’t ignore the flagrant violations perpetrated by Israel as seen recently in Lebanon.  If we do so, then we are jeopardizing the very credibility of our Council.  In this region of the world and elsewhere also, our Council has already taken a decision. This decision was taken at the extraordinary session on the fourth of July. This is the resolution on the situation in the Occupied Arab Territories.  This resolution has, however, not been implemented and none of the parts of it have been implemented. The Israeli activities are ongoing and the members of the legislative council who were kidnapped, like many other civilian prisoners, are still detained and Israel continues to flout International Humanitarian Law and it has prohibited the visit by the Special Rapporteur, trampling on the foot the resolution to which I referred. Having heard what has been set forth today it would seem to my delegation that the original terrorism is the occupation.  Without this occupation there would not have been resistance, and this resistance is indeed a duty and not an act of terrorism.  It is the duty of every occupied nation; therefore the Council has to do all that is in its power, it has to sound the alarm to alert everybody about this unethical behavior.  If the Council fails to do so, it will be going back into the trap of selectivity and dual standards which weakened the Human Rights Commission.  And what I have said is also valid for the deplorable situation in Lebanon which now has a commission of inquiry, set up by a decision of the second extraordinary session, visiting it.  We hope the conclusions of this Commission of Inquiry will show what the actual facts are, because these facts have been distorted in the reports of certain Special Rapporteurs. They have distorted the invasion.  I’ll come back to this on October 4th.  So, everything is in our hands now, either the Council will rise to the challenge and really become the conscience of mankind and reassert human rights throughout the world or else the Council will just be an additional tool in the hands of influential—not to say, hegemonist—countries.