The 32nd regular session of the Human Rights Council was held in Geneva from 13 June to 1 July 2016. The Council adopted 33 resolutions and one decision on a wide array of issues, and adopted the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review of 14 countries. The session was then resumed for one day on 8 July 2016 to confirm the appointment of five mandate holders.

“Do we still have an international community?”  This fundamental question asked by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, in a global update delivered on 13 June 2016 echoes to the current and rapid dismemberment of our society. In times where unity should prevail, we see walls being put up where we managed to knock them down in the past.

“Hate is becoming mainstreamed. Walls – which tormented previous generations, and have never yielded any sustainable solution to any problem – are returning”

The UN High Commissioner pointed out some worrying recent developments in the field of global Human Rights. “The workable space in which we function as one community – resolving disputes, coming to consensus – is under attack. The common sets of laws, the institutions – and deeper still, the values – which bind us together are buckling.”

The High Commissioner also mentioned the recent threats by member states to leave the International Criminal Court as well as the United Nations, the announcement of the Inter-American Commission to cut its personnel by forty per cent, as well as the countless challenges that humanity currently faces in the realm of hatred, suspicion, inequality, and human rights.

On the specific topic of Iraq, the High Commissioner expressed his concerns about the situation of tens of thousands of civilians who currently remain trapped inside the city of Fallujah, a situation that have been widely reported and documented by GICJ.*

On Yemen, the high Commissioner stressed that the humanitarian situation was disastrous and continued to worsen, noting that more than 21 million Yemenis – 80% of the population – need basic assistance, 2.8 million people have been forced to leave their homes. He strongly urged all parties to the conflict to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular concerning the protection of civilians, adding that the delivery of humanitarian aid must be ensured in all conflict zones and besieged areas.

On Palestine, the High Commissioner said that tensions remained high across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Israel, the risk of a further sudden escalation in violence remaining very real. He noted that violence is among the many consequences of this prolonged oppression, including and inexcusably against civilians on both sides. He stressed that the reactions of the Israeli authorities – in particular, instances of excessive use of force – have been a cause for concern and explained that he has reminded the Israeli Government of its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law on a number of occasions. The increase in detention of Palestinians this year, particularly in administrative detention without trial, is another serious concern. At the end of April there were almost 700 Palestinian administrative detainees, more than double the figure at the end of September 2015 and the highest number since June 2008. Over 400 Palestinian children are currently detained in Israeli prisons, among them 13 who are in administrative detention – again, the highest figure since public records began in 2008. The High Commissioner joined the call by a number of Treaty Bodies for the practice of administrative detention by Israel to be abolished.

On the situation in Gaza, the High Commissioner qualified it as untenable, saying that the continuing illegal blockade was impeding reconstruction and basic services, and bleeding the people of hope.

Under the HRC’s agenda item on human rights situation that requires the Council’s attention, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic. The Council demanded that the Syrian authorities cooperate fully with the Human Rights Council and the Commission of Inquiry by granting it immediate, full and unfettered access throughout the Syrian Arab Republic; and demands that the Syrian authorities facilitate, and all other parties to the conflict do not hinder, the full, immediate and safe access of the United Nations and humanitarian actors.

The Council also strongly condemned the gross, systematic, and widespread abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law committed by all parties to the Syrian conflict, and urged all those involved not to commit indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population and infrastructure.

It called for the appropriate international monitoring bodies to be granted immediate access to all detainees in Syria, and demanded the immediate release of all persons arbitrarily detained.

Furthermore, the Council demanded that all parties work urgently towards the comprehensive implementation of the Geneva communiqué, including through the establishment of an inclusive transitional governing body with full executive powers.

Under the same agenda item, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution HRC/32/L.29 regarding civil society space.

The content of the text in itself establishes long-standing rights recognised to civil society, taking into account the challenges of today. It is indeed crucial for all states to offer to civil society a safe space to work in, ensuring their rights and protection. The Council urged all member States to create and maintain, both in law and in practice, a secure and comprehensive environment.

By the resolution HRC/C/L.13, adopted without a vote, the Council extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons for a period of three years. Such decision to extend was taken in face of the major migration crisis happening right now and aims to address the complex problem of IDPs, in particular by mainstreaming the issue into all relevant parts of the UN system.

GICJ participation at the session

GICJ participated at the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council and delivered several oral statements and submitted written statements to the Council. Oral statements delivered by GICJ jointly with other NGOs can be watched in the next section, and official copies of the reports submitted by GICJ as released by the Human Rights Council can be read and downloaded under the last section.

GICJ oral statements:

GICJ delivered several joint oral statements under items 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9 of the agenda of the Council, focusing mainly on the grave human rights violations in Iraq but also in Palestine. GICJ also delivered an oral statement during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

Oral statement under agenda item 2 - Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

Delivered by Mr Naji Haraj,

This statement delivered on behalf of more than 100 NGOs focuses on the situation in Iraq and in the City of Fallujah in particular. It requests the High Commissioner and the Human Rights Council to take all the measures at their disposal to stop the genocide that is taking place in Fallujah at the moment. It stresses the fate of civilians at the hands of militia men who commit mass executions agaisnt them. What is happening in Iraq in a genocide according to international law, the UN must therefore take  appropriate actions starting by the dispatch of an international investigation mission into Iraq.

Oral statement under agenda item 2 - Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

Delivered by Miss Alessia Vedano

In this statement, GICJ stressed out the ongoing human rights violations occurring in Iraq in the context of the fight against terrorism. The Government, along with the International Coalition, launched liberation campaigns in several cities of the country, supposedly to free them from ISIS. In these circumstances, GICJ is highly concerned by the growing presence and role of militia organisations on the ground. These groups, with the complicity of the Iraqi authorities, have been committing heinous crimes against the civilian population. The heavy practices of torture and regular summary executions are especially worrying, as it appears to be part of a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing. GICJ demands urgent action to bring peace back to Iraq.

Oral statement under agenda item 3 - Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Delivered by Ms Julie Gorzkowski

This oral statement highlighted the dispossession of the Palestinian peoples’ fundamental rights as a direct consequence of polices such as land confiscation, physical prosecution and destruction of assets as committed by Israeli occupation forces. GICJ also expressed its concern over the Israeli settlements and the abuses they give rise to for the Palestinian people.

Oral statement under agenda item 3 - Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Delivered by Ms Julie Gorzkowski

This oral statement stressed the recent dramatic increase in summary executions, arbitrary detentions, disappearances, torture, and other degrading treatment perpetrated by the Iraqi government and its sectarian militias. GICJ also stressed the sectarian nature of these systematic human rights violations, which primarily afflicted the Iraqi Sunni community, and condemned the indiscriminate bombing of Iraqi cities by the central government as well as US military forces.

Oral statement under agenda item 4 - Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention

Delivered by Ms Alessia Vedano

This oral statement focused on the dramatic human rights violations occurring in Iraq, and in particular those occurring inside and around Fallujah as a result of indiscriminate shelling by Iraqi and US forces. GICJ also highlighted its grave concern over the appalling violations committed by militia units and security forces against civilians fleeing the city, and the tacit approval these policies have enjoyed from the Iraqi government.

Oral statement under agenda item 4 - Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention

Delivered by Mr Jan Lönn

This oral statement focused on the direct link between the current state of affairs in Iraq and the illegal war of aggression launched by the United States in 2003 and the failed occupation policies that followed. GICJ expressed it severe concern over the human rights violations currently being committed by both non-state and governmental forces in Iraq, especially in regards to the fight against the Islamic State in and around the city of Fallujah.

Oral statement under agenda item 7 - Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories

Delivered by Ms Alessia Vedano

This oral statement focused on the plight of the Palestinian people and the recent wave of violence perpetrated against civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. GICJ also highlighted and condemned the approval of further Israeli settlement projects, as well as the systematic policy of impunity that Israel enjoys due to significant support from powerful international actors.

Oral statement under agenda item 8 - Follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

Delivered by Ms Anne Béatrice de Gressot

This statement requested the Council's attention for a matter of interference of the right to freedom of expression of a journalist at the United Nations in New York by the Office of the United Nations' most senior officials.

Oral statement under agenda item 9 - Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

Delivered by Ms Anne Béatrice de Gressot

This statement calls upon the Human Rights Council to undertake a holistic approach to combat xenophobia, based on new educational programmes promoting the fundamental principles of tolerance and respect for ethnic, religious and cultural diversity in order to counter extremist ideologies while preserving and consolidating the values of democracy.

Oral statement under agenda item 9 - Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

Delivered by Mr. Troy Jonatan Bjorkman

This statement echoes the concern of civil society organisations about the apparent failure to implement the General Assembly resolutions on the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and the International Decade for People of African Descent. The struggle against racism and racial discrimination must remain a priority for the international community.

GICJ written statements

Geneva International Centre for Justice’s participation to the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council included the submission of several written statements on human rights issues, including the human rights violations in Iraq and Palestine and the challenges posed by the current migration crisis.

Agenda item 7 - Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories

Palestine: The Never-Ending Struggle for Survival

Palestinians’ struggle for the restoration of their rights is still on-going. The more than half-century-long conflict has bent civilians to their knees.

With Israeli forces regularly confiscating private land, imprisoning individuals without process – including children –and physically abusing them under incarceration, demolishing private homes, destroying shops, orchards and crops, shooting and killing civilians, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Palestinian to live even a resemblance of a normal life.

Violence against Palestinians has been regular and systemic since 1948. Since the end of 2015 around 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli armed forces, who continue their harassing campaign on the Palestinian population at present with the aim of restricting their freedoms to the greatest extent possible, thus violating the principles enshrined in the
Geneva Conventions.

Read the full report...

Agenda item 3 - Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions in Iraq Continue

Iraq has witnessed a dramatic increase in extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions at the hands of the government and government-backed actors. Hundreds of people, in the past years as well as in more recent months, faced death penalty sentences while many others are sitting on death row right now, hopelessly waiting for their final day to come.

Death penalties are typically carried out in “batches”, the latest two of which were approved by the president on 31 January 2016 and later on 10th May 2016. Sources on the ground have confirmed that there are currently more than 500 cases of death penalties which have been sent to the presidency for approval. Most of these cases concern people who have been classified as terrorists, and therefore have received death sentences, which, according to Iraqi authorities, shall fall under paragraph 1, Article 4 of the 2005 Anti-Terrorism Law No.13 (…)

Read the full report…

Migration: Challenges, Abuses and Ineffective Responses

The humanitarian crises deriving from the latest wave of irregular migration to the shores of the European continent has posed serious challenges for policy makers, who have proved once more unable to agree on a multilateral strategy based on humanitarian values in order to deal with the serious human rights issues originating from such mass movement.

Since the beginning of 2016, the UNHCR has reported that about 190,799 migrants have arrived to the European shores by sea. A further 1,375 has been reported dead or missing due to the extremely unsafe journey migrants undertake. 41% of the total arrivals come from the Syrian Arab Republic, whereas the second highest position is held by Afghanistan, with a 21%, followed by Iraq with 13% of the total migrants.

Read the full report…

Agenda item 4 - Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention

Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions in Iraq Continue

After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the Iraqi judiciary underwent drastic structural changes applied by the Coalition Provisional Authorities (CPA): new judges were appointed based on their support for the invasion and national legal officers were replaced with US and British advisors that most of the times had little knowledge about the Iraqi judiciary system but were nevertheless allowed to perform high-responsibility roles. Additionally, a new Constitution was adopted under the pressure and interference of the occupying powers. These changes highly affected the effectiveness of the judicial system in Iraq and compromised its legitimacy.

Today, the Iraqi judiciary is dysfunctional. The armed forces are headed by militia leaders who arbitrarily arrest people claimed to be alleged terrorists and detain them in prisons or secret detention centres. The detainees are then subjected practices of torture, ill-treatment and psychological abuse, with the sole purposes of degrading them both morally and physically, and extrapolating false confessions which will then be used to build a case against them, that often, will result in a death sentence. This clearly goes against the legal principle of “innocent until proven guilty” and the jus cogens of Freedom from Torture.

Read the full report…

Iraq: The Grave Humanitarian Crisis Continues

The situation in Iraq is rapidly deteriorating. Since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation, the country has witnessed a dramatic decline in all aspects of life, leading to the total collapse in the economic, social, political and cultural rights that its citizens.

Iraqis are today living in very unstable conditions and an increasingly big portion of the population lives in extreme poverty, with mortality rate being at the rise.

Following years of bombing, infrastructures and public buildings, such as hospitals, clinics and schools, had been permanently damaged. The widespread corruption of the new system installed by the Coalition Forces has also contributed to the dramatic deterioration of the Iraqi education and healthcare systems, which were once known for their prestige and efficiency.

Additionally, the situation is made even more critical by the growing presence and importance of militia organizations that, after the dissolution of the Iraqi army by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in 2003, have been progressively seizing control of the armed forces.

Read the full report…

 Documenting and reporting human rights violations in Iraq

 

	Executions		Human Rights Violations in the context of fight against terrorism		Peaceful protests
	GICJ appeals on executions in Iraq		GICJ appeals on grave human rights violations in Iraq		GICJ appeals on peaceful protests in Iraq
	Oral Statements delivered by GICJ		Joint written statements submitted by GICJ		Side events organised and co-organised by GICJ