By NNN-KUNA,
Geneva : The Human Rights Council (HRC) has called on Israel, the occupying power, to abide by its obligations under international law, international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
In a resolution Wednesday on the follow-up to resolution S-3/1: Human rights violations emanating from Israeli military incursions in the occupied Palestinian territory and the assault on Beit Hanoun, the Council recommended to the UN General Assembly to consider the report with the participation of the members of a fact-finding mission headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The Council endorsed the recommendations of the fact-finding mission and called on all concerned parties to ensure their full and immediate implementation.
In addition, the Council regretted the delay in the fulfilment of the mission owing to Israel’s non-cooperation.
The Council requested the UN Secretary-General to report to the next session of the Human Rights Council on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the mission.
The resolution was passed by 32 votes for, nine against and five abstentions. Among the nine countries against the resolution were France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Britain and Canada.
Ambassador Hisham Badr of Egypt, responding to the nine countries, said that this is a sad day for the Council that Tutu’s recommendations are taken lightly by some members of the Council. “This sheds doubts on the objective of this Council in cases where politics and human rights collide, harming the credibility of this Council in the future,” he noted.
Badr said that the resolution adopted and the violations in the report of the fact-finding mission to Beit Hanoun are not ordinary ones. This is indeed an extraordinary report undertaken by the backing the archbishop whose prestige, moral leadership and dignity are unquestionable.
“His eminence and team have exerted huge efforts to shed light to the international community on the grave crimes committed in Beit Hanoun,” he added.
Badr was the only speaker following the adoption of the resolution.
Earlier, the Netherlands, on behalf of seven countries, called for a vote on the resolution and expressed its difficulty to endorse the resolution. The same applied to Canada.