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UN Human Rights Council condemns the Israeli killing of Palestinian civilians, including women and children

Menschenrechtsrat der Vereinten Nationen verurteilt israelische Angriffe auf den Gazastreifen

Die neuerliche Militäroffensive der israelischen Armee im Gazastreifen mit dem verheerenden Angriff auf Beit Hanoun am 8. November, der 19 Zivilisten das Leben kostete, veranlasste den Menschenrechtsrat der Vereinten Nationen, am 15. November zu einer dritten Sondersitzung in Genf zusammenzutreten.
Der Rat nahm mit großer Mehrheit (32 dafür,8 dagegen, 6 Enthaltungen) eine Resolution an, in welcher der israelische Angriff verurteilt und verlangt wird, dass die Aggressoren sich gerichtlich zu verantworen hätten. Darüber hinaus werden die "massiven Zerstörungen" palästinensischer Häuser und Infrastruktur beklagt und wird auf die "systematische Verletzung der Menschenrechte" in den besetzten Gebieten durch die israelische Besatzungsmacht hingewiesen. Gefordert wird eine "internationale Aktion zur Beendigung dieser Verletzungen" sowie der "wiederholten militärischen Übergriffe" Israels.
Zum Schutz der palästinensischen Bevölkerung wird auf die Einhaltung des humanitären (Kriegs-)Völkerrechts gedrungen. Alle beteiligten Parteien werden aufgefordert, Gewalt gegen Zivilpersonen einzustellen und die inhaftierten Kombattanten und Zivilisten in Übereinstimmung mit der Genfer Konvention vom 12. Auus 1948 zu behandeln.
Schließlich wird beschlossen, eine "hochrangige" Untersuchungskommission nach Beit Hanoun zu entsenden. Diese "high-level fact-finding mission" soll die Lage der Opfer erkunden, die Bedürfnisse der Überlebenden benennen und Empfehlungen abgeben, wie die palästinensische Bevölkerung künftig gegenüber israelischen Angriffen geschützt werden könne. Bis Mitte Dezember 2006 soll die Kommission dem Menschenrechtsrat einen Bericht vorlegen.
Unter den Nein-Stimmen befand sich auch die der deutschen Delegation. Es ist bemerkenswert, dass kein deutscher Vertreter in der Debatte (mit über 40 Statements) das Wort ergriffen hat.
Zwei Tage später befasste sich die Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen mit dem Fall. Hier wurde über eine Resolution beraten, die eine Woche zuvor bereits im UN-Sicherheitsrat eingebracht worden war, dort aber am Veto der Vereinigten Staaten scheiterte. Die Vollversammlung verabschiedete die Entschließung am 17. November mit 156 gegen sieben Stimmen; sechs Staaten enthielten sich. Für die Resolution stimmten auch alle 25 Länder der Europäischen Union. Eine Gegenstimme gaben neben Israel auch die Vereinigten Staaten ab. Eingebracht hatte den Text der UN-Botschafter von Katar, Abdulaziz al-Nasser, im Namen arabischer Staaten.
Im Folgenden dokumentieren wir

  • eine Zusammenfassung der Resolution des Menschenrechtsrats,
  • einen Bericht über den Verlauf der Sitzung des Menschenrechtsrats,
  • eine Erklärung der Hohen UN-Kommissarin für Menschenrechte, Louise Arbour, worin sie mitteilt, vom 19. bis 24. November 2006 eine Erkundungsreise nach Israel und in die besetzten Gebiete zu unternehmen (Kasten), sowie
  • einen Bericht über die Verhandlung der UN-Generalversammlung vom 17. Nov. (englisch mit kurzer deutscher Zusammenfassung).
Zur Resolution, welche die Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen am 17. November 2006 verabschiedet hat, geht es hier (englisch): "Condemning the military assaults ...".



Resolution

The resolution, while taking note of the sense of shock expressed by the Secretary-General on the Israeli military operations carried out in Beit Hanoun on November 8, expresses its shock at the horror of Israeli killing of Palestinian civilians in Beit Hanoun while asleep and other civilians fleeing earlier Israeli bombardment; condemns the Israeli killing of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, as well as medics in Beit Hanoun and other Palestinian towns and villages, and calls for bringing the perpetrators thereof to justice; denounces the Israeli massive destruction of Palestinian homes, property and infrastructure in Beit Hanoun; expresses its alarm at the gross and systematic violations of human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by the occupying power, Israel, and calls for urgent international action to put an immediate end to these violations including those emanating from the series of incessant and repeated Israeli military incursions therein.

The resolution calls for immediate protection of the Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in compliance with human rights law and international humanitarian law; and urges all concerned parties to respect the rules of international humanitarian law, to refrain from violence against civilian population and to treat under all circumstances all detained combatants and civilians in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949.

It further decides to dispatch urgently a high-level fact-finding mission to be appointed by the President to travel to Beit Hanoun to, inter alia, assess the situation of victims, address the needs of survivors, and make recommendations on ways and means to protect Palestinian civilians against further Israeli assaults; and requests the fact-finding mission to report to the Council no later than the middle of December 2006 on progress made towards the fulfilment of its mandate.

The resolution was adopted by a roll call vote of 32 in favour, eight against and six abstentions. Cameroon was absent.

The result of the vote was as follows:

In favour (32): Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Uruguay, and Zambia.

Against (8): Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and United Kingdom.

Abstentions (6): France, Guatemala, Japan, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, and Ukraine,

UN Human Rights Council denounces recent Israeli military actions in northern Gaza

15 November 2006 – Condemning Israel’s recent military activities in the northern Gaza Strip, including an attack at Beit Hanoun which resulted in 19 deaths, the United Nations Human Rights Council today called for urgent international action to end those incursions and voted to send a fact-finding mission to the region.

By 32 votes to eight, with six abstentions and one absence, Council members meeting at a special session in Geneva adopted a resolution expressing grave concern “at the continued violation by the occupying Power, Israel, of the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian territory.”

The resolution described Israel’s recent military incursions as “a collective punishment of the civilians” inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory and added that they will “exacerbate the severe humanitarian crisis” there.

It voiced particular concern at last week’s artillery shelling of a residential area in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, where 18 people were killed and about 60 others injured.

The special session was convened at the request of Bahrain’s Ambassador on behalf of the Group of Arab States and Pakistan’s Ambassador on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and was the third of its kind since the Council, which replaces the Commission on Human Rights, came into being earlier this year. All three special sessions have been held to consider Israeli actions.

Israel accused the Council of double standards and politicized decision-making, saying the 47-member body was conspicuously ignoring tragedies in other parts of the world.

Itzhak Levanon, Israel’s representative, told the Council meeting that his country was dismayed by the lack of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity being shown.

The Palestinian Authority and its Government deserved the blame because they did nothing to stop the firing of rockets at Israeli communities from Beit Hanoun, setting the stage for an inevitable Israeli response, he said.

Mr. Levanon added that those who fire rockets at Israeli civilians and had stored tons of weaponry must understand they cannot seek refuge behind women and children and that their behaviour bore a heavy price.

The Palestinian representative Mohammed Abu-Koash accused Israel of trying to reverse the facts, when it had occupied Palestine and forced millions of Palestinians to become refugees. He added that the weapons which the Palestinians possessed were not significant, as had been claimed.

Also at today’s meeting, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said she will soon visit Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where she plans to meet officials and receive briefings from both sides, civil society groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as UN agencies.

In a statement Ms. Arbour said her key concern would be to stress the obligation to protect civilians during any armed confrontation and the entitlement of both Palestinians and Israelis to live free from fear, want and harm.

Address by Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Third Special Session of the Human Rights Council

Geneva, 15 November 2006

Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the Human Rights Council,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,


You will recall that at the opening of the Second Session of the Council I informed you of my forthcoming visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. I am pleased to confirm that the planning of that mission has progressed expeditiously and that I will be travelling to the region next week.

From Sunday the 19th to the following Friday, I will have an opportunity to examine developments on the ground; I will conduct field visits, and hold briefings and meetings with authorities, civil society and NGOs, as well as with UN partners. Although I don't underestimate the complexity of the situation, I hope that this will allow me to support existing activities and identify additional means to bolster the protection of human rights in the area. My primary concern will be to emphasize the obligation to protect civilians during armed confrontation, and the entitlement of all, Palestinians and Israelis alike, to live free from fear, free from want, free from harm. I look forward to a productive mission and I welcome the opportunity of sharing with you the results of my visit at the Third Session of the Human Rights Council upon my return.

Meanwhile I wish you a fruitful and constructive Special Session today.
Thank you.



Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen fordern ein sofortiges Ende der Gewalt in Nahost

Die Vereinten Nationen fordern ein sofortiges Ende der Gewalt in Nahost. Israelis und Palästinenser müssten jede Art von Gewalt unverzüglich einstellen, forderte die Vollversammlung der UNO in New York mit überwältigender Mehrheit. In der Entschließung hieß es, Israel müsse auch seine Militäreinsätze im Gazastreifen beenden, und der palästinensische Raketenbeschuss auf israelisches Gebiet müsse aufhören.

Die UN-Vollversammlung rief Israel als Besatzungsmacht auf, "unverzüglich seine Militäreinsätze einzustellen, die die palästinensische Zivilbevölkerung im besetzten Gebiet in Gefahr bringen". Außerdem müsse Israel seine Armee wieder aus dem Gazastreifen abziehen. Jede Art von Gewalt, Terrorismus, Provokation, Anstachelung und Zerstörung zwischen Israelis und Palästinensern müsse sofort aufhören, hieß es in der Entschließung, die allerdings nicht bindend ist.

UN-Generalsekretär Annan solle zudem Ermittlungen zum israelischen Luftangriff in Beit Hanun aufnehmen lassen, bei dem vergangene Woche 19 Palästinenser ums Leben gekommen waren. Die Vollversammlung verabschiedete die Entschließung mit 156 zu sieben Stimmen; sechs Staaten enthielten sich. Für die Resolution stimmten auch alle 25 Länder der Europäischen Union. Eine Gegenstimme gaben neben Israel auch die Vereinigten Staaten ab. Eingebracht hatte den Text der UN-Botschafter von Katar, Abdulaziz al-Nasser, im Namen arabischer Staaten.

General Assembly considers draft resolution on Israeli attacks at Beit Hanoun

17 Nov 2006 - The United Nations General Assembly today met in emergency session to consider a draft resolution that would call for a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Middle East to examine recent Israeli attacks at Beit Hanoun, where 19 people died following a raid last week.

United Nations General Assembly today met in emergency session to consider a draft resolution that would call for a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Middle East to examine recent Israeli attacks at Beit Hanoun, where 19 people died following a raid last week.

As the Assembly resumed its emergency special session on “Illegal Israeli Actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the Rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” Qatar introduced the text, which is similar to one defeated last weekend in the Security Council by a United States veto.

The draft introduced in the Assembly would condemn the killings demand “the immediate cessation of military incursions and all acts of violence, terror, provocation, incitement and destruction between the Israeli and Palestinian sides, including extrajudicial executions, bombardment against Palestinian civilian areas, air raids and firing of rockets.”

It comes on the heels of the adoption by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council of a resolution that also condemned the killings and dispatched a fact-finding mission to the region.

“We must condemn the assassination of Palestinian and Israeli civilians without distinction because such arbitrary killings are contrary to the rules of international humanitarian law,” said Assembly President, Sheikha Haya Al Khalifa of Bahrain in opening the debate, which saw the participation of over 20 speakers.

“The escalation of violence and counter-violence in this dramatic fashion carries disastrous consequences and has a negative impact on both societies, Palestinian and Israeli, and widens the gap between both peoples, who live side-by-side,” she said, stressing that both sides must return to the negotiating table “because dialogue is the only means which allows to serve the interests of both parties and to achieve the expected peace.”

Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of Palestine, said the six-day aggression by Israelis had culminated in the shelling of a residential neighbourhood as people slept soundly, killing 19 people, 16 of them members of the same family. The massacre in Beit Hanoun must be acknowledged, and the Israeli aggression must be stopped, he said.

Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said the General Assembly was being “used, abused and hijacked.” Today’s emergency was not in the Assembly Hall, but in Israeli cities, where residents were pounded daily by rockets, he said, adding that ever since Israel had left Gaza, Palestinians had turned Gaza into a staging ground for war against Israel.

The General Assembly first convened this tenth emergency special session in 1997, when Israel began construction of a new settlement south of East Jerusalem, and resumed it subsequently in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Quelle für alle Dokumente: Website der Vereinten Nationen: www.un.org


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