UN Special Rapporteur On Israel Wants To Include Palestinian Violations Of International Law

Don't know how I missed this:

The new United Nations special investigator on Israeli behavior in the occupied territories said on Monday he wanted clearance to track Palestinian violations of international law.

...In his first address to the body, Falk said he was asking it "to consider expanding (his) mandate to also encompass inquiry into Palestinian violations of international humanitarian law" -- a change that Israel has sought.

I hadn't seen much coverage of this. The UN News Service has this:

Also today, the HRC heard from Richard Falk, the new UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. Mr. Falk said in a statement that his mandate as now formulated applied only to Israeli violations of human rights, which he said had allowed critics of the HRC to complain about bias. He added that he believed such complaints had considerable merit.

The Rapporteur asked the HRC to consider expanding his mandate to include Palestinian violations of international humanitarian law. [emphasis added]

What is missing, of course, from both accounts is any indication that the HRC leaped at the opportunity to eliminate the appearance of bias and grant Falk's request on the spot--no doubt they will have to carefully weigh the pro's and con's of such a novel idea.

Interestingly, the Reuters report above is actually quite cynical about Falk's request:

But Falk made clear that his aim was to "insulate" the Council -- where decisions largely rest in the hands of a majority of Islamic and African states normally supported by China, Cuba and Russia -- "from those who contend that its work is tainted by partisan politics."

He also said he did not want to investigate human rights violations by Palestinians inside the territories. [emphasis added]

Apparently this is why:

Diplomats said it was likely that the Council would agree to the request from Falk, who pledged to take "an objective and impartial approach" to his work. [emphasis added]

Objective within certain parameters. Talking about Palestinian on Palestinian violence is apparently still verboten

In any case, in coming to a decision, hopefully the HRC won't ask Falk's predecessor, John Dugard, what he thinks...though I don't think there is much doubt, based on his final report to the group:

“The collective punishment of Gaza by Israel is expressly prohibited by international humanitarian law and has resulted in a serious humanitarian crisis,” Mr. Dugard reported, noting that 11,000 Palestinian prisoners remained in Israeli jails.

...Mr. Dugard also called for all parties to respect the 2004 Advisory Opinion by the UN International Court of Justice that Israel’s construction of a wall in the OPT was contrary to international law.

Meanwhile, today is a special day at the UN:

UNITED NATIONS MEETING TO MARK 60 YEARS OF DISPOSSESSION OF PALESTINE REFUGEES:

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the “United Nations special meeting to mark 60 years of dispossession of Palestine refugees” on Friday, 20 June, in accordance with its mandate under General Assembly resolutions 62/80 and 62/81 of 10 December 2007. The meeting will start at 10 a.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber.

The objective of the special meeting is to draw the attention of the international community to the fact that it has been 60 years since hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to leave their homes and property as a result of the 1948 hostilities. Those Palestinians have remained refugees until today. The Committee remains deeply concerned that the unresolved question of Palestine continues to prevent the Palestinian people from exercising their inalienable rights, namely the right to self determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced.

At lunch break a documentary film La terre parle Arabe [The Ground Speaks Arabic] will be shown to participants.

Yeah, they'll get around to deciding on Falk's request as soon as they get a chance.

Technorati Tag: Israel.