RIGHTS-MIDEAST: UN Report Calls for Int’l Presence in Israel

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Nov 28 2000 (IPS) - The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said Monday that every effort must be made to assess the “feasibility of establishing an international monitoring presence” in the Palestinian territories and Israel, which have been hard hit by two months of violence.

Robinson said she was under the impression that the Israeli authorities had not completely ruled out the possibility of such a force, though they “did not favour internationalising the conflict in this way, preferring if possible to resume dialogue (with the Palestinians) on the basis of continuing with the Oslo process.”

United Nations officials had suggested the idea of an international force two weeks ago, but it was abandoned given the negative reaction of Israeli officials.

Before pursuing such a proposal, Robinson consulted Sunday with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, to whom she gave a draft of the report presented Monday to the UN Commission on Human Rights and to the UN General Assembly.

Robinson made her Nov 8 to 16 Middle East trip in compliance with the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights, which had held a special session in October to study the new outbreak of violence in the Palestinian territories and Israel.

The conflict has claimed more than 200 lives since Sep 28, when Ariel Sharon, a conservative Israeli politician, visited the East Jerusalem compound of a seventh century Moslem shrine – a site that is also considered sacred to Jews.

The High Commissioner stated in her report that she returned from the Middle East deeply concerned about the sharp deterioration of the situation in the Occupied Territories and Israel, as well as the high cost in human lives

“The overall situation is an extremely serious one, and that is why in my recommendation I refer to the need for an international protection or some international monitoring presence,” Robinson said as she presented her report Monday.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict brings with it economically devastating consequences. Border closures mean that “a very significant number of those in the Occupied Territories cannot get to their jobs in Israel or even in other parts of the territories,” she pointed out.

As a result, many families are using their last of their financial savings to buy essential foods, Robinson added.

The roadblocks also create problems for the distribution of humanitarian aid. In Gaza and the West Bank, explained the High Commissioner, raw materials like cement are becoming scarce, forcing a halt in local construction, which is a heavy blow to employment.

During her visit to the Territories, Robinson said she witnessed the daily “reality of the inequalities and humiliation” caused by the Israeli occupation.

Two women doctors in Gaza described for the UN official the humiliation they suffered when crossing through the Israeli checkpoints as they headed to the West Bank, where they work in a health programme for primary school children.

“One of them said, ‘You know, I have studied Hebrew, I speak it very well myself, and I had to listen to insults about us as we were passing through”‘ the checkpoints, Robinson recounted.

The High Commissioner commented that this “accumulation of daily humiliations has not been fully appreciated on the Israeli side, or even by Israeli human rights NGOs (non-governmental organisations).”

The deterioration of Israel’s international image is due to the intensity of the conflict, the number of young people who have been wounded or killed, and the excessive use of force, she added.

Robinson concluded by underscoring that the UN has upheld the applicability of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilians in Time of War in the case of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. She added it would be appropriate for the parties to the Convention to assume their related responsibilities.

The report recommends that the construction of new Jewish settlements should be stopped and that “those located in the midst of heavily populated Palestinian areas should be removed.”

The text states that “all cases of use of lethal force on both sides should be investigated and subjected to the processes of justice in order to avoid impunity,” and that “all holy sites and their access by all faiths should be respected.”

Robinson also stresses in the report on her Middle East mission that “Israeli authorities should facilitate access and ensure freedom of movement of international and national staff of UN agencies to those in need of assistance.”