A UN panel of independent experts in Geneva has urged Israel to end a host of practices violating Palestinian human rights. The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by its State parties, published its concluding observations Thursday following a review of Israels human rights record earlier this month. Addressing what chair Nigel Rodley described as a range of serious problems, the Committees final report contained 18 separate principal matters of concern and recommendations. These included a stark description of systematic discrimination inside Israel, where the Jewish and non-Jewish population are treated differently in several regards. Israels domestic legal framework, the experts noted, maintains a three-tiered system of laws affording different civil status, rights and legal protection for Jewish Israeli citizens, Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. The Committee urged Israel to ensure equal treatment for all persons within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction regardless of their national or ethnic origin and in particular pursue the review of all laws discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel. One such law highlighted under Protection of the family was the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, and the restrictions it imposes on family reunification of Israeli citizens with Palestinian spouses from the West Bank, East Jerusalem or Gaza Strip.............
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 21:40:45 +0000