lslamic Republic of
Permonent Mission the United No tions to

I RA N
Check againstdelivery Statementby:

Mr. HosseinMaleki Counselor Representative the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations of before the SpecialPolitical and l)ecolonizationCommittee (4thCommittee) on the Item 32:
"Report of the Speciol Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinisn People snd Other Arabs of the Occapied Tenitories" 6l't session the United Nations General Assemblv Of (New York, November, 07, 2006't

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, Merciful the Mr. Chairman, At the outsetI would like to express appreciation the Chairmanand other membersof the my to bureau of the "Special Committee to InvestigateIsraeli PracticesAffecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and other Arabs of the occupied territories" that despite many obstacleshas preparedan excellentreport containedin documentN61/500 to be consideredby the Member States in this Committee Mr. Chairman, The Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes importanceof the continuationof the work of the the Special Committee to investigate Israeli PracticesAffecting the Human Rights of the palestinian Peopleand Other Arabs of the OccupiedTerritories.We believethat it shouldbe able to discharge its mandateand responsibility,as set out in resolution2443 (XXIII) and subsequent resolutions. Unfortunatelythe SpecialCommitteewas again deprivedof visiting the OpT, and therefore,as in the previous years,it could not access main sources information. However, the findings of the the of

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Committee- though insufficient- as well as the statementmade by the special Rapporteur on the situationof the human rights in the OPT, at the Third Committeeon l9 Oit.zOO6,canmore or Iess give us a clear picture on the depth of brutality and inhumane practices exercisedby the occupying power,the Israeliregime,against defenseless the civiliansin the opr. The report containedin documentA/61/500 clearly draws the picture of a suffocatedopen-air prison established and run by Israeli regime- a prison in which you cannot seecriminals but innocent peoples,a prison aiming at punishing a nation that is resistingthe occupation.In theseopen-airprison children, women and elderly are deprivedof their basichuman rights, because they only fight for their essential and inalienable human rights and wish to live on their motherlands free from foreisn occupation Mr. Chairman, It is regrettablethat the situation in the OPT in 2006 was again "worse than ever,,- a term that is repeatedannually in this committee to describethe situation in ihe opT. As containedin the reporr A/611500 and other reports, the military campaign of the occupying power against the people of Palestinecontinuedin 2006 unabatedand yet again resultedin trorrnc hrr*un lossesand destruction, and created grave humanitarian emergency situation. Israeli regime's atrocious, brutal and callous treatmentof the peoplesof Palestineand those living in the o""ripi.d Syrian Golan in 2006has been worse than ever' As usual, women and children have been subjected io numerous kinds of Israeli regime's continuousviolence and stateterrorism, ranging from bombardments, targetedassassination, abduction, property destruction, tear gas, developing post-traumatic disorders such as flashbacks, nightmaresand arrestsof family members.Moreover,inl lsraeti regime's brutal policies and practices have exacerbated already dire economic situation in the OPT, thus, the increasingthe poverty in the Palestinianand other occupiedterritories. Mr. Chairman, The illegal separationwall that the construction of which is continuing unabated,is a major concern for the international community and a main source of injustice for the palestinians.The humanitarianimpact of the wall is t"lr".. and it is being expanded through other illegal and heinous acts such as confiscation of Palestinians'natural ."ro.ri""r-urrd their mo-stfertile agricultural lands, isolating Palestinian communities in enclaves and undermining the territorial contiguity of the Palestiniancities and villages. As a result of constructionof the-separation wall palestinianscannot freely accessschools,hospitals,places of employmentand farms, markets, social networks, etc. This has, in turn, result:-d_t-t_u new category of intemally displaced persons.Indeed, and as mentioned recently by Mr' JOHN DUGARD, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in trr. occupied Palestinian-Territory, theseIsraeii atrocitiesamountto ethnic cleansingin other countries but political correctness forbids suchlanguage where Israelis concerned. In short,the illegal separation wall is a primary causeof poverty and the humanitariancrisis in the west Bank and the GazaStrip. It requiresthe immediateattention of the internationalcommunity. In this regard we fully support the proposals put forward by the Special Committee in its report contained in document N611500 that the Security Council should, ty taking necessarymeasures, ensure that lsraeliresime: - implement the advisory opinion of the International court of Justice and the General Assembly'sresolution ES-10/15of July 2004 - repealall legislativeand regulatoryacts adoptedin view of the constructionof the wall:

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comply with_its legal obligation to ceasethe construction of the wall in OpT, including in and aroundEast Jerusalem; immediatelydismantlethe segments the wall alreadybuilt; of make reparationfor the damagearising from the construction of the wall;

Furthermore, fully supportthe idea that the Security we council: - consider sanctionsagainst Israeli regime if it persistsin paying no attentionto its international obligations,and - Ensurethat other Statesare not taking any actionsto assistthis regime in the constructionof the wall in oPT, either directly or indirectly, una that bilateral agreemeit, b.t*..n Israeli regime and other Statesdo not violate their respectiveobligationsunder internationallaw; Mr. Chairman, As in the previous years' the working conditiols of independentjournalists including Palestinianjournalists in oPT continuesto remain very difficult. As referred to in the report of the Special Committee (4/611500), Palestinianphotojournalists and cameramenhas often been injured while covering weekly Friday demonstrations againstthe illegal wall. A Euro News cameraman was severely beaten by an Israeli soldier and had his arm broken. A similar incident occurred on 4 November concerninga journalist from the Al-Jazeeranews channel.During the month of Qatar-based July' three joumalists were wounded two separate incidents. on 26 July, a palestinian TV cameramanwas targetedand wounded -in att Israeli tank by shell while filming civilians caught in the fighting betweenPalestinianand Israeli AggressiveForces in Shijaiyahneighborhood GazaCity. of In this context, we request the secretary General to seek ways and means to assist the journalists and media in dischargingtheir duties smoothly so that they are able to cover all eventsin the OPT and let the people all over the World know more aboutthe realitiesin OpT. Mr. Chairman, The Palestinianlegislative elections and the government establishedthereafte on 29 March r 2006 were the results of a democratic process.Therefore, increasingly boycotting that govemment with the aim of paralyzing it, by no means, is justifiable and it is" regrettableto see that certain countries still persist on maintaining such an una"cceptable approachto;ards the palestinianpeople simply becausethey have exercisedtheir right to choose thiir officials through a fully democratic process'In fact, Palestinianpeople have been punished by certain quartersonly because ofelecting a parliament and a governmentof their choice. This kind lr uenalrloronly emboldensthe occupier to commit more crimes and encourages to increasinglyviolate it the human rigtrts in the OpT. In conclusion, Mr- chairman, my delegation would like to reiterate its emphasis on the necessity of accessto first hand information about the situation in opT and in this regard fully supportsdispatchingof the fact-finding mission on the situation of human rights in the OpT by the Special committee as well as by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinianterritories on a ."gulur basis. tn ni"of the fact that such missions have never takenplace so far, the united Nations should find a way and take necessary measures facilitate such to missions. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman