UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, International Criminal Court Prosecutor, International Court of Justice President: Investigate the Possibility that Israel is Committing the Crime of Genocide Against the Indigenous Palestinian People.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories, @FranceskAlbs tells me that the European Union's words of condemnation following remarks made by Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in France are not enough. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/LpyRlWjqax
“I think that that statement was shocking for many reasons, but let me point to two. First of all, it’s shocking that someone known for genocidal statements, and someone who’s also known for the jubilant response to the recent violence unleashed against the occupied Palestinian population is allowed to deliver such a message in France, at the heart of the European Union, basically, without real consequences other than words of condemnation. European Union has a legal framework that prohibits and demands states to punish racist and xenophobic public incitement. And in other cases, like in the case of Russian propagandists’ attacks against the identity of the Ukrainian people, political leaders, including US president Biden, have promptly warned against the risk of genocide. And without getting into the material commission of genocide, international law enshrines- triggers the state’s responsibility to make the best efforts to prevent the incitement to the commission of atrocity. But also, the other element that I find shocking is that this statement is not just yet another slip of the tongue of an extravagant minister. This statement has been heard before, meaning the denial of the Palestinians as a people, and responds to something we are seeing in practice- happening and consolidating- meaning the occupation is a denial of the existents of the Palestinians as a people. And therefore the apartheid is a tool to manage the problem: an occupied people who shouldn’t be there, to be displaced and replaced.”
The HRC plays an essential role in the prevention of mass atrocity crimes by responding to situations where populations are at risk of, or are experiencing, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing. During its 44th session in July 2020 the HRC adopted Resolution 44/14 on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), recognizing the important contribution of the UN human rights system in addressing situations where there is a risk of atrocity crimes being committed. This is in line with the Council’s prevention mandate, enshrined in General Assembly Resolution 60/251, which stipulates that it shall “contribute, through dialogue and cooperation, towards the prevention of human rights violations and respond promptly to human rights emergencies.”
As a current member of the HRC we strongly urge you to uphold this shared commitment to prevent atrocity crimes. The Global Centre respectfully encourages you to consider the following recommendations as you engage in the 52nd regular session:
… During its 52nd session, the HRC will have an opportunity to discuss numerous other atrocity situations. We respectfully urge your delegation to actively participate in the interactive dialogues with the High Commissioner and the Designated Expert on Sudan, the Special Rapporteurs on Afghanistan and Iran and with the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, the Fact-Finding Missions on Venezuela and Libya, and on the High Commissioner’s report on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. We also urge you to participate in the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on human rights in Eritrea and on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in the High-level dialogue on the Central African Republic. During the General Debate under Item 4, we respectfully urge your delegation to note that possible atrocity crimes are also currently being committed in Cameroon, the Central Sahel, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Mozambique, and Nigeria, and that the international community must do more to uphold its collective responsibility to protect.
At the United Nations, Pakistan has urged the international community to take collective action to protect people of occupied Palestine and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Addressing a special meeting on preventing genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity at UN in New York, Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Ambassador Aamir Khan said for over seven decades, India through force and fraud has denied the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris in violation of multiple resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, during a thematic debate in the UNGA on the doctrine of responsibility to protect said “One specific circumstance where those provisions would apply is in situations of foreign occupation or alien domination. He said that such situations were often rife with pressing human rights emergencies and could easily spiral to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. “Yet, we have not heard from the concept’s sponsors about the need for ‘collective action’ to protect the people of occupied Palestine or of Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir.”
To speak of R2P as applying to Palestinians at all, one must accept that there is a need to protect a vulnerable population against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, or crimes against humanity. Many people and institutions, such as Canada, refuse to acknowledge that ethnic cleansing, apartheid, war crimes, or crimes against humanity are being, or could be, perpetrated by Israel.
