UN Panel: Blockade Collective Punishment to Gazans
Local Editor
A panel of five independent UN human rights experts reporting to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) said on Tuesday in Geneva that the blockade had subjected Gazans to collective punishment in "flagrant contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law," Reuters reported.
The UNHRC-mandated panel of experts rubbished an earlier UN report released on 2 September that ruled "Israel's" naval blockade of the Strip both legal and appropriate.
Also, the so-called Palmer Report on the "Israeli" attack of May 2010 that killed nine Turkish activists also ruled that "Israeli" War Forces had used "excessive" force but "did not violate the international law" and held both "Israel" and the Gaza Freedom Flotilla activists responsible for the violence, said "Israeli" newspaper Haaretz.
However, the UNHRC panel said the four-year "Israeli" blockade deprived 1.6 million Palestinians living in the coastal enclave of fundamental rights.
In a joint statement, the experts noted, "In pronouncing itself on the legality of the naval blockade, the Palmer Report does not recognize the naval blockade as an integral part of "Israel's" closure policy toward Gaza which has a disproportionate impact on the human rights of civilians."
Richard Falk, who is a UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories and one of the five UNHCR experts, said the Palmer report's conclusions were "aimed at political reconciliation between Israel and Turkey. It is unfortunate that in the report politics should trump the law."
About one-third of Gaza's land and 85 percent of its fishing waters are totally or partially inaccessible due to "Israeli" military measures, said Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on the right to food, another of the five experts.
At least two-thirds of Gazan households lack secure access to food, he said. "People are forced to make unacceptable trade-offs, often having to choose between food or medicine or water for their families."
The other three experts were the UN special rapporteurs on physical and mental health; extreme poverty and human rights; and access to water and sanitation.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says the blockade violates the Geneva Conventions.
Source: News Agencies, edited by moqawama.org team
A panel of five independent UN human rights experts reporting to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) said on Tuesday in Geneva that the blockade had subjected Gazans to collective punishment in "flagrant contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law," Reuters reported.
The UNHRC-mandated panel of experts rubbished an earlier UN report released on 2 September that ruled "Israel's" naval blockade of the Strip both legal and appropriate.
Also, the so-called Palmer Report on the "Israeli" attack of May 2010 that killed nine Turkish activists also ruled that "Israeli" War Forces had used "excessive" force but "did not violate the international law" and held both "Israel" and the Gaza Freedom Flotilla activists responsible for the violence, said "Israeli" newspaper Haaretz.
However, the UNHRC panel said the four-year "Israeli" blockade deprived 1.6 million Palestinians living in the coastal enclave of fundamental rights.
In a joint statement, the experts noted, "In pronouncing itself on the legality of the naval blockade, the Palmer Report does not recognize the naval blockade as an integral part of "Israel's" closure policy toward Gaza which has a disproportionate impact on the human rights of civilians."
Richard Falk, who is a UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories and one of the five UNHCR experts, said the Palmer report's conclusions were "aimed at political reconciliation between Israel and Turkey. It is unfortunate that in the report politics should trump the law."
About one-third of Gaza's land and 85 percent of its fishing waters are totally or partially inaccessible due to "Israeli" military measures, said Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on the right to food, another of the five experts.
At least two-thirds of Gazan households lack secure access to food, he said. "People are forced to make unacceptable trade-offs, often having to choose between food or medicine or water for their families."
The other three experts were the UN special rapporteurs on physical and mental health; extreme poverty and human rights; and access to water and sanitation.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says the blockade violates the Geneva Conventions.
Source: News Agencies, edited by moqawama.org team
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