The Universal Periodic Review, human rights, and Israel: What’s at stake
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- Written by Peter Splinter, Amnesty International’s Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Peter Splinter, Amnesty International’s Representative to the United Nations in Geneva
- Published: 29 January 2013 29 January 2013
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By the end of 2011, all UN member states’ human rights records had been examined under the Universal Periodic Review process. © Eric Bridiers/U.S. Mission
By Peter Splinter, Amnesty International’s Representative to the United Nations in Geneva
If the Israeli government is not careful, it will ruin an important global human rights process for everybody.
The Universal Periodic Review, a process to examine states’ human rights records, has until now been truly universal: all United Nation member states were reviewed by the end of 2011 and the second cycle of reviews has already started.
But now the government of Israel is not engaging with the process. Every indication is that the Israel will not be present this afternoon when it is scheduled to be examined under the Universal Periodic Review. As the only recalcitrant state among 193, Israel’s deliberate absence would sabotage the principle of universality. Consequently the Universal Periodic Review stands to lose the compelling legitimacy it derives from being applied even-handedly to all states. Why should states that would prefer to escape scrutiny of their human rights record, or are severely resource constrained, submit to this process if Israel’s non-compliance demonstrates that it is no longer universal?
Not so long ago, Israel, and many other states and organizations, had expressed concerns that the Commission on Human Rights was biased and operated on double standards. It was abolished and in 2006 the Human Rights Council was established. With it came a great improvement: the Universal Periodic Review. Finally, a process applied consistently to all states was at hand, and in its first cycle of reviews, it worked. It is ironic that Israel is now undermining a mechanism that was designed to remedy the bias Israel protested against.
The Israeli government complained that the Human Rights Council singled Israel out for criticism by establishing a Fact-Finding Mission on Israeli Settlements in March 2012, and consequently withdrew its cooperation with the Council. Israel had already refused to cooperate with several important mechanisms such as the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict in 2009. Yet those steps are unrelated to the Universal Periodic Review.
Amnesty International voices the worldwide consensus in urging Israel to participate in its Universal Periodic Review during 2013, in accordance with the rules of the Human Rights Council. Anything less than Israeli engagement at senior level will weaken the effectiveness of the mechanism. Even Israel’s best friends will be hard put to defend such actions. According to the Human Rights Council protocol, appropriate measures will be taken in relation to states that persistently refuse to co-operate with the Universal Periodic Review.
There is evidence that for many countries throughout the world the Universal Periodic Review has contributed to narrowing the gap between human rights standards and their implementation. It would be a great loss to the global human rights project if the Universal Periodic Review were jeopardized.
If Israel fails to fully engage in its examination under the Universal Periodic Review during 2013 as required, will the victims of human rights violations, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, thank the Israeli government?
Read more:
Suggested recommendations to States considered in the 15th round of the Universal Periodic Review, 21 January – 1 February 2013 (UPR recommendations, 19 November 2012) http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/IOR41/029/2012/en
Israel Arrests Human Rights Activist
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- Written by Maureen Clare Murphy Maureen Clare Murphy
- Published: 25 January 2013 25 January 2013
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Israel arrests Stop the Wall youth coordinator in latest attack on Palestinian human rights defenders
Submitted by Maureen Clare Murphy on Thu, 01/24/2013 - 18:36
Israeli forces arrested activist and human rights defender Hassan Karajah during a nighttime raid on his home in the occupied West Bank village of Saffa, near Ramallah, yesterday morning.
According to Stop the Wall, Israeli forces damaged property and attempted to humiliate Karajah’s family:
Armed soldiers of the IOF [Israeli occupation forces] stormed the home of Hassan Karajeh at 2:30am, and, gathering the family together in one room, separated the men and women from each other. The soldiers started to search the family members and ordered them to strip naked for a strip search, however the men and women refused and defied this order.
Muhannad Karajeh, Hassan’s brother and a lawyer, reported that special units of the Israeli army stormed the house and carried out an extensive search, in the process breaking furniture, scattering the contents of the house, and taking three personal computers, three mobile phones, and five bags of private documents belonging to the family.
Muhannad Karajeh further described how the Israeli soldiers attacked his brother Hassan, handcuffed and blindfolded him, and, arresting him, took him to an undisclosed location and refused to tell the family where.
The aftermath of Israel’s raid on the Karajah family home. (Stop the Wall)
The Palestinian human rights and prisoner advocacy group Addameer has also published a profile of Karajah with a detailed description of the raid and arrest, and states that Karajah is currently being held at Jalameh interrogation center. The group also stated on its Facebook page today that an Israeli military court has ordered Karajah’s detention for another 12 days of interrogation, and that Karajah was “beaten shortly after his arrest when he was first detained at a checkpoint.”UNOCHA: Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 16 - 22 January 2013
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- Written by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
- Published: 25 January 2013 25 January 2013
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On 23 January, a Palestinian woman was killed and a boy died of wounds he sustained a few days earlier, both by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces in the West Bank. During the reporting period, Israeli forces injure 67 Palestinians in the West Bank and four others in the Gaza Strip. Also in the West Bank, settlers damage more than 280 plants belonging to Palestinians. Israeli authorities demolish over 100 Palestinian-owned structures, displacing around 180 Palestinians. In Gaza, three workers died in tunnel collapse.
What Israel's Election Means--And Doesn't Mean
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- Written by Yousef Munayyer Yousef Munayyer
- Published: 24 January 2013 24 January 2013
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What Israel’s Election Outcome Means—And Doesn’t Mean
by Yousef Munayyer | January 23, 2013 4:15 PM EST
The ballots have been cast and counted and the Israeli election is now over. Post-election reporting and analysis have been rife with speculation and misinformation. Here is what the outcome of this election actually means and doesn’t mean:
It does not mean Israeli voters have rebuked Netanyahu’s policies toward the Palestinians. Many have characterized this outcome as a setback for Netanyahu. In a sense they are right in that his party has fewer seats, but his policies toward Palestinians and Palestinian territory remain largely unchallenged. It is important to keep in mind that the new star of Israeli politics, Yair Lapid, whose party garnered about 19 seats to become the second largest party, did not run on a platform that distanced him from Netanyahu’s policies on Palestinians. Rather, his campaign was focused primarily on two issues: redistribution of social responsibility—particularly as it relates to exemptions for religious communities—and redistribution of wealth through programs for middle-class Israelis. It was a platform that largely resonated with the significant outpouring of protestors in 2011 demanding economic reforms. Of course, those protests were far more about the price of cottage cheese than anything relating to Palestinians, the occupation or colonization. Likewise, the rise of Lapid just reinforces the reality that popular mobilization in Israel in opposition to Netanyahu is only coalescing around economic issues and not in opposition to his policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians. Lapid and Netanyahu know that Yesh Atid’s mandate isn’t one of peace, and thus, while Lapid’s seats offer him some leverage in coalition negotiations, it won’t be in areas that ultimately matter for peacemaking.
It does not mean there is a half-half split between Right and Left. This is perhaps the most common misconception I’ve seen in post-election commentary and analysis. There are some who lament the rightward trend in Israeli politics who would like to see things this way; the reality is it just isn’t the case. Americans, familiar with what a former professor of mine used to refer to as our “system of donkeys and elephants,” are particularly susceptible to this misconception. Israeli politics, however, involves far more actors, cleavages and ethno-religious interests. Anyone using the right-left spectrum should be able to define what this spectrum is. Few actually do.
The half-half divide is more appropriately described as a split between Netanyahu’s natural allies and his political opposition. This should not be conflated with an ideological divide or even a policy divide, particularly as it relates to the occupation. Further, the “left” bloc that some have referred to includes non-Zionist Arab parties, which picked up about 9-12 seats. These parties have never, in the history of the Israeli political system, been included in a governing coalition. While their presence places some limits on the largest party’s (in this case Netanyahu’s) ability to shape a coalition, including them in an ideological voting bloc with Zionist parties displays a fundamental misunderstanding of their politics and their place in a hostile Zionist political system. Just like in 2009, when Netanyahu’s was the second largest party, it is still he and only he who is in a realistic position toIsraeli forces kill teen in West Bank village during high school raid
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- Written by RAMALLAH (Ma'an) RAMALLAH (Ma'an)
- Published: 21 January 2013 21 January 2013
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RAMALLAH (Ma'an) --
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager on Tuesday during clashes in Budrus near Ramallah, medics said.
Samir Ahmad Abdul-Rahim, 17, sustained four bullet wounds to his head, chest and leg and died shortly after arriving at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah.
The head of Budrus village council, Mohammad Marar, said Israeli military jeeps approached the village high school during a raid. Students were leaving the school after taking final exams and threw stones at Israeli forces, Marar told Ma'an.
FAMILY MEMBERS OF A YOUTH, WHO WAS KILLED BY ISRAELI TROOPS, REACT AT THE HOSPITAL IN THE WEST BANK CITY OF RAMALLAH JANUARY 15, 2013. (REUTERS/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN)
Israeli soldiers responded with live ammunition, fatally wounding Abdul-Rahim, Marar said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said several Palestinians had damaged Israel's wall in Budrus "attempting to infiltrate Israel."
Israeli soldiers at the scene "responded immediately to secure the area and prevent infiltration," the army official told Ma'an.
She could not say whether Israeli soldiers used live fire and said the incident was under investigation.
The killing of Abdul-Rahim is the latest in a spate of fatal shootings by Israel's army.
Mustafa Abu Jarad, 21, was shot in the head on Monday in the town of Beit Lahiya, medics said, and later died from his injuries. Israel's military denied involvement in the incident.
Anwar Muhammad al-Mamlouk, 22, was killed by Israeli fire east of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza on Friday, and another man was seriously wounded and taken to the Kamal Udwan hospital by paramedics.
Israeli military sources said that a group of Palestinians tried to damage the border fence and soldiers opened fire and hit a man in the leg.
Al-Mamlouk's brother Hani said he was in an outdoor area studying for an exam when he was killed.
This article first appeared on Maan News Agency.