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FIDH : Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’Homme

HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Congress in Lisbon - 24 April 2007

Saturday 28 April 2007

1) We are concerned over the continued escalation in violations of human rights and international humanitarian law perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including: civilian deaths resulting from the excessive use of force; destruction of civilian property (houses, agricultural land and other civilian structures, such as bridges and electricity generation plants); the siege and collective punishment measures; settlement expansion; continued construction of the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank territory; and continued detention of Palestinian civilians, including democratically-elected leaders of the Palestinian people. Such situation has been the worst since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967.

2) We highly praise the parliamentary elections organized by the Palestinian National Authority on 25 January 2006, and condemns the subsequent sanctions imposed by EU States, the United States and other countries on the Palestinian people, and consider them a form of punishment against the Palestinian people for their democratic choice. It is the first time in history that a people under occupation is subject to economic boycott by the international community.

3) We are increasingly concerned over the deteriorating economic and living conditions of the Palestinian civilian population due to the siege and collective punishment measures imposed by Israelis and the continued international boycott to the Palestinian government, which have doubled the suffering of civilians and increased unemployment and poverty to unprecedented levels.

4) We express our deep regret for the continued prevailing state of lawlessness in the OPT, which have destructive impacts on the Palestinian people and their struggle for liberation, independence and self-determination. We call upon all concerned parties to resort to dialogue and the rule of law to settle differences.

We call upon the international community, including governments, civil society groups and human rights organizations:

1. To end the financial boycott and resume providing financial aids to the Palestinian people and their democratically-elected government.
2. To provide effective international protection for Palestinian civilians from violations of international humanitarian law perpetrated by IOF, including war crimes, through tasking a strong international protection force within the 4 June 1967 border.
3. To cooperate in searching for war criminals and activate universal jurisdiction to ensure justice for all and emphasize that there is no crime all over the world without a punishment.
4. To implement the Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in July 2004, which considers the construction of the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank illegal and calls for its dismantlement.
5. To make efforts to ensure the release of thousands of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, including members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (including the Speaker), ministers and other leaders of the Palestinian people.