Joint Press Release, 27 September 2014 Palestinian civil society tables Israel’s treatment of Palestinian civil and political rights in occupied East Jerusalem for UN review A broad collective of Palestinian civil society has submitted the first-ever East Jerusalem-centred report to the UN Human Rights Committee for its review of Israeli compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Titled, “Occupied East Jerusalem: ‘De-Palestinization’ and Forcible Transfer of Palestinians: A situation of systematic breaches of State obligations under the ICCPR,” the report is ground-breaking in its focus on East Jerusalem and Israel’s efforts to rid the occupied city of its Palestinian population and transform it into a Jewish Israeli town. Between 17 and 21 October, the Human Rights Committee in Geneva will examine, for the fourth time, if and how Israel meets its ICCPR treaty obligations. As in the past, the official Israeli delegation will defy international law and consensus by claiming that Israel has no human rights obligations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), and by treating occupied East Jerusalem as if it were part of its own sovereign territory. Collectively, three organizations - the Coalition for Jerusalem, St. Yves – Catholic Center for Human Rights and the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem put forward a joint account to assist the UN review. Never before has an East Jerusalem-focused report been prepared for this purpose. In doing so, the drafting partners clarify the complex status of East Jerusalem and Palestinians there, which has resulted from the combination of Israeli occupation and illegal annexation. The report responds directly to the widespread confusion over the status and human rights of Palestinians and the unlawful application of Israeli domestic law in occupied East Jerusalem. The report addresses in detail Israel’s legal framework, which makes Palestinians in East Jerusalem unprotected and unequal under the law. It explains how this inferior status together with a range of Israeli policies and practices has resulted in systematic denial of the right to self-determination, racial discrimination and large-scale forcible displacement for Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem. The three organizations urge the Human Rights Committee to recognize and conclude that the former are serious and overarching violations, which undermine the entire set of individual civil and political rights of Palestinians, and that Israel is, therefore, in breach of the entire treaty. With regard to individual civil and political rights, the report addresses in particular Israeli violations of the right of all Palestinians in the OPT to freedom of movement and residence in East Jerusalem, as well as the rights of Palestinians to protection of their families and children, privacy, including homes and property, and freedom of religion, expression and assembly in East Jerusalem. The three organizations call on the Human Rights Committee to repeat and strengthen its previous recommendations for Israel to respect the Palestinian right to self-determination, in particular in occupied East Jerusalem, and to abolish all discriminatory legislation and policies, such as: the system of Jerusalem entry permits; Jerusalem residency (ID card) revocation; the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law; family reunification and child registration requirements for West Bank and Gaza Palestinians wishing to unite with spouses or parents in East Jerusalem; the Absentees’ Property Law; home demolitions, forced evictions and denial of adequate housing through unlawful urban development, as well as educational and law enforcement policies, which result in the closure of Palestinian institutions and prevent free expression of religion, culture, identity and freedom of assembly of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Finally, the joint NGO report also recommends a set of practical measures that should be adopted by the Human Rights Committee, in order to ensure that Israel will respect and perform its human rights treaty obligations to all Palestinians under its effective control, including in East Jerusalem, and present adequate reports to future Committee reviews. The joint East Jerusalem report is currently available at: civiccoalition-jerusalem.org/system/files/joint_ngo_report_-_east_jerusalem.pdf For other documents related to Human Rights Committee’s review of Israel in October, including the Israeli State Report, see: ccprcentre.org/country/israel/ For further information contact: Zakaria Odeh, Civic Coalition-Jerusalem: +972-2-2233929 Aminah Abdelhaq, Coalition for Jerusalem: +972-2-6562272 Dalia Qumsieh, St. Yves: +972-2-6264662
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 08:30:17 +0000
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