B'TSELEM
THE ISRAELI INFORMATION CENTER FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/19980802.asp
Press Releases
2 Aug. 1998: Israel's
violations of ICCPR
UN Human Rights Committee: Israel Violates Almost Every Article
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights
On Friday, 31 July 1998, the UN Human Rights Committee, in Geneva,
published its concluding observations on Israel's implementation of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Committee indicated its deep concern that in the first report
submitted by the Israeli government, Israel denied its responsibility
to fully apply the Covenant in the Occupied Territories.
As is customary among human rights organizations worldwide,
B'Tselem submitted a report critiquing the government's report. The
Committee's conclusions were clearly based on B'Tselem's report,
which, contrary to Israel's report, addressed human rights in the
Occupied Territories and detailed the articles of the Covenant that
Israel violates there.
The UN Committee expressed its regret and deep concern, and even
deplored many actions of Israel, both in Israel and in the Occupied
Territories.
As regards the Occupied Territories, the Committee made the
following conclusions:
- The Committee is concerned about the number of Palestinians,
some of them children, who have been killed by the security
forces. These deaths have resulted, in part, from the use of
rubber-coated metal bullets to disperse demonstrations. Also, the
Committee is concerned about all the persons who have been victims
of terrorist attacks.
- In the opinion of the Committee, handcuffing, hooding,
shaking, and sleep deprivation, whose use during interrogations
the Israeli delegation admitted to the Committee, constitute a
breach of article 7 of the Covenant, which prohibits torture and
any other form of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The
Committee is concerned about the use of administrative detention
for extended periods. This application of administrative detention
is incompatible with several articles of the Covenant, among them
Article 7, which prohibits, as noted above, the use of torture or
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The Committee is
specifically concerned about the administrative detention of some
Lebanese persons who are held as bargaining-chips, and do not
threaten State security.
- The Committee is concerned that Palestinians in the Occupied
Territories do not enjoy the same rights and freedoms as Jewish
settlers in those territories, in particular in regard to planning
and building permits and access to land and water.
- The Committee is concerned about the policy on land
expropriation and Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories.
The Committee regrets the introduction by the Government of a
draft law that would deny the right of compensation for excesses
committed by members of the security forces against Palestinian
residents of the Occupied Territories.
- The Committee regrets the continued impediments posed on
movement of Palestinians between and within East Jerusalem, the
West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, resulting from the closure policy,
which have grave consequences affecting nearly all areas of
Palestinian life.
In regard to Palestinians residing in East Jerusalem, the
Committee is concerned that the increasingly restrictive conditions
for maintaining the right to permanent residency, the denial of
requests for family reunification, and the difficulty in obtaining
building permits have resulted in increasing numbers of persons being
forced to move to the Occupied Territories.
The Committee deplores the demolition of houses as a means of
punishment, demolition of "illegally" constructed houses, and the
difficulties imposed on Palestinian families seeking to obtain
legitimate construction permits.
B'Tselem's executive director, Eitan Felner, who appeared before
the Committee and briefed its members on the human rights situation
in the Occupied Territories, notes that, "The Committee's conclusions
clearly indicate that, as regards the Occupied Territories, Israel
violates almost every article of the Covenant. How can Israel profess
to be the only democracy in the Middle East while it violates the
fundamental human rights of an entire people?"
Background
The UN Human Rights Committee is composed of eighteen experts, who
are elected by the State Parties to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights. The Committee's task is to supervise
implementation by the State Parties of their undertakings pursuant to
the Covenant. The experts act independently, according to their
individual discretion, and do not represent their
governments.
Israel ratified the Covenant in 1991. On 15-16 July 1998, Israel
submitted before the Committee its initial report on its
implementation of the Covenant. At its sixty-third session, the
Committee considered reports by Algeria, Ecuador, Israel, Italy,
Macedonia, and Tanzania.
