UN investigator accuses Israel of using ‘excessive force’
February 11, 2016The UN human rights investigator for Palestinian territories, who just last month resigned, on Thursday accused Israel of using “excessive force” against Palestinians, Reuters reported.
Makarim Wibisono also challenged Israeli authorities to charge or release all Palestinian Arab prisoners being held under lengthy administrative detention, including children.
“The upsurge in violence is a grim reminder of the unsustainable human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the volatile environment it engenders,” he said in a final report to the Human Rights Council quoted by Reuters.
While Wibisino denounced individual violence and said it was unacceptable, he also blamed the recent upsurge in terrorism on “illegal” Jewish settlements, construction of a wall, and Israel’s blockade of Gaza which, he claims, amounted to a “stranglehold” and “collective punishment”.
Israel must address these issues to uphold international law and ensure protection for Palestinians, he said, according to Reuters.
In January, Wibisono resigned from his post, complaining that Israel had never granted him access to areas he was meant to monitor while praising the Palestinian Authority (PA) for “fully cooperating” with his mandate.
Wibisono replaced Richard Falk as the UN’s investigator of Israel last year. Falk was known for his anti-Israel stance and, before stepping down, accused Israel of a campaign of ethnic cleansing and apartheid policies against Palestinian Arabs.
But Wibisono is not much different than Falk as evidence by information exposed by the UN Watch NGO before his appointment. The NGO revealed that, in addition to representing Indonesia which rejects any official diplomatic relations with Israel, Wibisono went to Gaza in 2010 to meet with the leader of the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist organization.
In his report, Wibisono also claimed that some 5,680 Palestinian Arabs were detained by Israel as of the end of October 2015, including hundreds of minors. He cited figures from the leftist group B’Tselem.
“Hundreds of Palestinians being held, now including children, often under secret evidence, and for up to six-month terms that can be renewed indefinitely, is not consistent with international human rights standards,” he said, according to Reuters.
“The government of Israel should promptly charge or release all administrative detainees.”
The spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to give an immediate response, but told the news agency he was looking into Wibisono’s remarks.
Israel argues that the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), to which Wibisono reports, is concluding an investigation into the July 2014 war in Gaza that was established in a resolution with wording making clear it viewed Israel as guilty of violations as a foregone conclusion.
That bias was further cemented in the appointment of Canadian lawyer William Schabas to head the probe. Schabas has a long history of anti-Israel invective, and stepped down from the investigation after it was revealed he had done contract work with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
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