OIC stands with Palestine for right to self-determination
Islamabad: The OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) joins the international community in observing this important day and underlines the urgency of realizing the inalienable right to self-determination of Palestinian people.
It also emphasized the need to addressing all the systematic violations of basic human rights of the Palestinian people, including the fundamental rights of life, religion, freedom of movement, association and assembly.
Today is not only an opportunity for the international community to remember that the Question of Palestine remains unresolved, but it is also an opportunity to focus attention on the increasing suffering of the Palestinian people, under the Israeli occupation, and to unify all efforts for assisting them to attain their fundamental rights, including the right to self-determination and the right to return for Palestinian refugees to their homes and property, from which they have been displaced, the Commission added.
Reflecting on the ongoing human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the Commission expressed serious concerns on the increasing range of violations committed by Israel, the occupying power, particularlythe recent draconian measures againstthe Palestinian prisoners and detainees as well as the harassment of Sheikh Jarrah families who remain under the threat of eviction from their houses under baseless and illegal arguments.The Commission called upon all regional and international human rights mechanisms and organizations to raise awareness on these egregious human rights violations at all relevant forums as these are aimed at separating Al Quds from its original inhabitants, which is yet another vicious attack on the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.
The Commission strongly condemned the recent Israeli designation of six Palestinian human rights and civil society groups as terrorist organizations that squarely affects the already shrinking civic and humanitarian space in the OPT. As rightly highlighted by multiple UN human rights experts, these Israeli measures represent egregious misuse of its counterterrorism and security legislation to silence the voices of human rights defenders in the OPT and to undermine the security of all. In this regard, IPHRC calls upon the international community to exert all possible pressure on Israel, the occupying power, to fully respect the freedom of association, expression and movement in OPT enabling the civil society to perform its indispensable humanitarian work, demand of which is ever increasing due to Israeli human rights violations against innocent Palestinians.
Furthermore, the Commission noted, with deep anguish, the continued killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli Occupation forces, which resulted in hundreds of innocent Palestinian victims being murdered and injured, including children and women, during the last few monthsalone, which constitutesgrave violation of international human rights and humanitarian laws.
The Commission also condemned the ongoing systematic policies of house demolitions, forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem and other areas, and stripping them of their residency cards and access to their lands and private properties. It further condemned the use of excessive and unjustified force and psychological abuse at military checkpoints against Palestinian civilians as well as depriving the Palestinian prisoners of their basic human rights, including denial of access to Covid-19 vaccination.
While regretting the failure of the international community to address the above-mentionedhuman rights violations, the Commission stressed the need to investigate theseabuses by relevant international mechanisms with a view to holding Israel, the occupying Power, accountable for violating international human rights and humanitarian laws. To this end, the Commission called upon all relevant stakeholders, including OIC Member States, to support and cooperate with the ICC investigation on Israeli crimes in OPT, and to strengthen cooperation with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the OPT to address the ongoing Israeli aggressions and human rights violations.The Commission also urged OIC Member States to support and contribute financially to the work of UNRWA in its efforts to help Palestinian refugees and to aggressively use the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israeli companies that are exploiting resources in the illegal settlements in the OPT.
