UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

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1 UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE The role of youth and women in the peaceful resolution of the question of Palestine UNESCO Headquarters, Paris 30 and 31 May 2012 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY PLENARY II Empowerment of women and youth: a core prerequisite in building the Palestinian society for an independent State of Palestine Paper presented by H.E. Mr. Nawaf Salam Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations New York CPR/IM/2012/16

2 2 The Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in the context of Palestine Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, 1999 marked the very first time the Security Council took a decision on the thematic matter of the protection of civilians in the armed conflict by adopting the landmark resolution 1265, in which it expressed its willingness, to inter alia, respond to situations of armed conflict where civilians are being targeted, or humanitarian assistance to civilians is being deliberately obstructed, including through the consideration of appropriate measures at the Council s disposal in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. (Operative Paragraph 10) This major development was a result of the international community s new consciousness vis-àvis the plight of civilians who suffered the scourge of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide that ravaged the Balkans and Rwanda at the turn of the twentieth century. That new sensitivity also brought about a willingness to employ targeted sanctions against perpetrators of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. Since then, the Council started mainstreaming a protection of civilians approach into its work and enhanced the role of its peacekeeping operations to that effect in various country-specific situations, including the DRC, Somalia, Cote d Ivoire, Chad, Haiti, Libya, Liberia, and Sudan, to name but a few. For instance, in the DRC, the Security Council, in its adoption of Resolution 1925 (2010), granted MONUSCO the mandate to ensure the effective protection of civilians under imminent threat of physical violence, as well as to support the efforts of the Government of the DRC to ensure the protection of civilians from violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses, including all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, to promote and protect human rights and to fight impunity, including through the implementation of the Government s zero-tolerance policy with respect to discipline and human rights and humanitarian law violations committed by elements of the security forces. It followed up with Resolution 1952 (2010) in which it renewed an already existing arms embargo and travel ban in place in the DRC against perpetrators of gender-based violence, and resolution 1991 (2010) demanding that armed groups immediately cease all forms of violence and human rights abuses against the civilian population in the DRC, in particular against women and children ( ) In Cote d Ivoire, the Security Council enhanced the mandate of UNOCI, in resolution 1933 (2010) to allow it to contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights. Special attention was to be given to violations committed against children and women and to all forms of sexual violence, as well as to monitoring, investigating and reporting on human rights and humanitarian law violations with a view to ending impunity, and supporting the efforts of all parties to bring to the attention of the Council all individuals identified as perpetrators of serious human rights violations. In Haiti, MINUSTAH was mandated by the Council s resolution 1542 (2004) to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence, as well as to monitor and report on the human rights situation, in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

3 3 In Liberia, the Council s resolution 1509 (2003) mandated UNMIL to contribute towards international efforts to protect and promote human rights in Liberia, with particular attention to vulnerable groups including refugees, returning refugees and internally displace persons, women, children and demobilized child soldiers, within UNMIL s capabilities and under acceptable security conditions. The exception to that trend remains the situation in Palestine where civilians enjoy no protection whatsoever by the Security Council from Israeli occupation. In this context, the exhibition of citizens will across the whole Arab World, in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria, seeking freedom, dignity, and good governance, lays waste to so called Arab Exceptionalism, the erroneous stigma that Arabs hold democratic values to less esteem than do any other people. The Arab Spring is the deathbed of Arab exceptionalism. But when it comes to Palestine, another form of exceptionalism is king. Thirteen years after the adoption of resolution 1265, the Security Council still fails to respond in any tangible manner to the offences it vowed to address, namely the targeting of civilians in armed conflict, in particular women and children, and the deliberate obstruction to humanitarian assistance, let alone even considering sanctions against the perpetrator, Israel, the Occupying Power. Allow me to address only a sample of such failure, which is due primarily to the lack of political will of some Council members, a will that is crucial if the Council is to assume its responsibility toward Palestinians, and to uphold the principles of international law. I shall therefore briefly survey the situation of the protection of women and children, or rather lack thereof, under the Israeli occupation. Need I recall that resolution 1325, adopted on October 21, 2000, called on all parties to armed conflict to, inter alia, fully respect international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls, especially as civilians, in particular the obligations under the Geneva Conventions, the Refugee Convention, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and all their respective Protocols. (Operative Paragraph 9.) Since the adoption of resolution 1325, the Council s consideration of the nexus between the protection of women and peace and security continues to be integrated into its work. The Council for example requested the Secretary-General to submit a set of indicators for use at the global level to track the implementation of resolution 1325, indicators which could serve as a common basis for reporting by relevant UN entities, international organizations, and Member States (resolution 1889 (2009)) as well as requested him to establish monitoring, analysis, and reporting arrangements on conflict-related sexual violence in sutations on the Council s agenda (resolution 1960 (2010). And yet, when it comes to Palestinian women, the Council exhibits paralysis and is unable to take any concrete action to provide redress to their dire situation. Palestinian women are particularly vulnerable to the immediate effects of the Israeli occupation. This fact has been recognized by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which recommended on March 9, 2012 to the Economic and Social Council the adoption of a draft resolution on the Situation of and Assistance to Palestinian Women, in which it reaffirms that the Israeli occupation remains the major obstacle for Palestinian women with regard to their advancement, self-reliance and integration in the development of their society ( )

4 4 (Operative paragraph 1) as well as demands that Israel, the Occupying Power, comply fully with the provisions and principles of international law in order to protect the rights of Palestinian women and their families. The fact remains that roadblocks, patrols, curfews, checkpoints and the construction of the Wall all negatively impact health, education, and economic security of Palestinians in general, and women in particular. The restriction of movement due to these repressive measures has seriously impeded their access to healthcare. Persons living in villages around East Jerusalem need so-called permits to enable them to reach hospitals in their destination. To obtain such permits, they are required to provide medical documents to prove their illness, as well as to produce evidence of their confirmed appointments at the specific hospital. Not only that, they are further required to prove that the particular hospital is the only facility where the needed treatment is available. B Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, documents how such requirements for the so-called permits are particularly problematic to pregnant women who need to get to a hospital in time to give birth. The World Health Organization Commission Report also attests of cases in which women had to give birth at a checkpoint because of the Israeli permit regime, as well as the numerous infanct deaths in the process. As we have seen, the situation of Palestinian women who are in so-called freedom leaves much to be desired. So what can be said of those subjected to incarceration in Israeli prisons? Palestinian women prisoners continue to suffer poor conditions of detention, are denied family visits, lack access to health care, nutrition, and basic hygiene; and they are provided with limited legal representation, if any. Furthermore, according to a UN Women publication entitled Suspended lives: Palestinian Female Prisoners in Israeli Prisons, an estimated 10,000 Palestinian women have been arrested and/or detained under Israeli military orders since In detention, Palestinian female prisoners constantly face torture, humiliation and horrendous living conditions. According to a joint report by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and the World Organization Against Torture, the interrogation methods used by the Israeli General Security Service (GSS) include beating, slapping, kicking, stepping on shackles, bending the interrogee and placing her in other painful positions, intentional tightening of shackles, violent shaking, sleep deprivation, prolonged shackling behind the back, cursing, humiliating, and threatening the detainee, depriving the detainee of essential needs, exposing her to extreme heat or cold, isolation and secrecy, and imprisonment under inhuman conditions. The majority of these women are transferred to one or two prisons after having been subjected to interrogation: Damon or Hasharon-Telmond prisons. Both of these prisons are located outside Palestine, in direct contravention of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that protected persons accused of offenses shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentence theirin. The Article further establishes the required standard of treatment of protected persons, particularly with respect to health, nutrition, hygiene, and receipt of assistance. It explicitly states that women shall be confined in separate quarters and shall be under the direct supervision of other women. However, both Hasharon-Telmond and Damon prisons lack a gender-sensitive approach, and the Israeli prison administration engages in practices to humiliate Palestinian female prisoners. In an article published in Haaretz newspaper in March of 2012, Dr. Ishai Menuhin, executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, stated that Palestinian women in general and security prisoners in particular are the weakest population in Israel and the territories. It is an oppressed population, and they have no idea of their rights.

5 5 The Security Council is failing to live up to its responsibility to sustain the relevant legal provisions applicable to the situation of women, and is therefore failing to meet its own commitments. The same can be said about the protection of children s rights. Need I further remind that the Security Council has, since 1999, recognized the paramount importance of the protection of children in armed conflict, namely through its adoption of resolution 1261 which affirmed that the protection of children constitutes a peace and security concern. This was followed by resolution 1612, in which the Security Council established a monitoring and reporting mechanism of grave violations committed against innocent girls and boys, and the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. But Palestinian children have been deprived of the elaborate protection system, and the Israeli authorities remain unaccountable, be it before their domestic legal system or the international community. According to the November 2011 UNICEF Children Affected by Armed Conflict Bulletin, of the total amount of killings and injuries perpetrated against Palestinian children, 84% are at the hands of the Israeli Security Forces. The UNICEF Bulletin addresses the illegal detention of children, who are subjected to acts tantamount to torture by the Israeli army and the police. Approximately 500 to 700 Palestinian children from the West Bank are arrested and interrogated by Israeli forces each year, before being prosecuted in military courts. It is estimated that since 2000 alone, around 7,500 Palestinian children, some as young as 12 years old, have been detained and prosecuted in the system, suffering the use of hand-ties, beatings, blindfolding, threats of violence, kicking, and stripping of clothes. The majority of these children are accused of throwing stones, another indication that Israeli authorities, in good tradition, violate the principle of proportionality, one of the pillar principles of the rule of law. Mr. Chairman, In its February 2012 Report on Palestine, the Defense of Children International organization considered how children are often used as human shields in Israeli military operations. The practice includes: 1 - Making children stand or walk in front of soldiers during confrontations to shield the soldiers from gunfire or stone throwing; 2 - Tying children to the bonnet of military jeeps forhours during armed clashes; 3 Detaining children inside houses where soldiers have taken up operational positions in order to reduce the likelihood of the position being attacked by armed groups; and 4 - Compelling children to search bags or houses for people, weapons or explosives. Mr. Chairman, What I have just outlined is but a mere snapshot of practices, a few selected out of a broad spectrum of violations of widely recognized principles of international law. Israel s old adage, the pretense that international humanitarian law does not apply to Palestine since it is not a State, not only adds insult to injury, but is also a manifestation of Israel s disdain for the will of the international community, and for Security Council resolutions on the protections of civilians in armed conflict.

6 6 It is high time for the few Security Council members hindering any progress on the Palestinian Question, to allow for the Council s condemnation of such Israeli practices, as it has promised to do when it committed in resolution 1265 (1999) to respond to situations of armed conflict where civilians are being targeted, or humanitarian assistance to civilians is being deliberately obstructed. They need to join the majority of Council members to permit this body to uphold its own commitments, thereby furthering the cause of human rights in Occupied Palestine, a condition sine qua none for a lasting peace in the Middle East. The time for ending the Palestinian exception to the Council s protection of civilians is long overdue. * * *