By Yasmine Darwish / GICJ
“Apartheid is being practiced by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory” said Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, on March 25, 2022 during the 46th meeting of the Human Rights Council.
His analysis marked a real turning point as he argued that the Israeli domination of the OPT could now be classified as apartheid. Indeed, he focused on the legal definition of apartheid and argued that Israel is "a political regime that intentionally and clearly prioritizes the basic political, legal, and social rights of one group over another, within the same geographical unit, on the basis of each group's racial, national, and ethnic identity."
Mr Lynk lamented the international community's inaction in the face of the arbitrary and extrajudicial executions, torture, denial of fundamentals rights, abusive military justice system, and home demolitions. "For more than 40 years, the UN Security Council and General Assembly have declared in hundreds of resolutions that Israel's annexation of the occupied territories is illegal, that the construction of hundreds of Jewish settlements is illegal, and that the denial of Palestinian self-determination violates international law," he added. The special rapporteur pointed out that "if the international community had really acted on its resolutions 40 or 30 years ago, we would not be talking about apartheid today."
In response to the numerous questions from NGOs regarding what could be done to ensure accountability, Mr Lynk suggested that the international community establish a list of effective accountability measures to end the Israeli occupation "and its apartheid practices" in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) commends the Special Rapporteur for his report as well as for his valuable work over the past 6 years. We call on the International Community to do its utmost to hold Israel accountable to its obligations under International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law. We also call for transparent investigations into all alleged violations of human rights abuses. Victims and their families must have access to effective remedies and due process.
HRC49, Human Rights Council, Michael Lynk, Palestine, Apartheid, Occupation, End Occupation, Occupied Palestinian Territories, geneva4justice, GICJ, Geneva International Centre For Justice, Justice
Source image : Archives GICJ
