Overview | UN Human Rights Council condemns Israeli Settlements (Incl.

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JANUARY 31, 2013 BY OCCUPIEDPALESTINE 0 COMMENTS

Settling constitutes a warcime according to international law and ICC statute. Even under US own military legislations Law resources and more related news, continuous updates below this article

Maan News Agency | Jan 31, 2013 By Noah Browning

RAMALLAH (Reuters) Palestinian officials welcomed a UN Human Rights Council report on Thursday highly critical of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying it vindicated their struggle against Israel. The UN investigation, which Israel boycotted, urged Israel to halt settlement construction unconditionally and begin removing all 500,000 Israeli settlers from occupied territory immediately. This is incredible. We are extremely heartened by this principled and candid assessment of Israeli violations, said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the PLO. The UN report, issued in Geneva, said the settlements contravened the Fourth Geneva Convention forbidding the transfer of civilian populations into occupied territory and could amount to war crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Last year the United Nations General Assembly granting Palestine de facto statehood in territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The enhanced diplomatic status gives Palestine access to many world bodies, including the ICC, and Palestinian leaders have said they might try to haul Israel before the court unless it halts the settlements and engages in meaningful negotiations. The report confirms and deepens the application of international law and shows that the law applies to all, and no one is above it, Palestinian government spokesperson Nour Odeh said. Israels foreign ministry condemned the report as counterproductive and unfortunate, adding that the only way to resolve the dispute was through direct negotiations.

US-brokered talks between the two sides broke down in 2010 over the issue of settlement building. Palestinian leaders say they will not return to negotiations until the construction stops. Israel says there must be no preconditions. Fatah, the party that holds sway over Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank, said on Thursday that Israeli rights violations were undermining the chances of peace. (Fatah) does not see any real opportunity for the resumption of the peace process and negotiations with the continued policy of settlement expansion, especially in Jerusalem, which would destroy the principle of a two-state solution, it said in a statement. It rejects dubious schemes to end the Palestinian cause through any temporary state, or other solutions which detract from the right of our people to self-determination. The rules of conflict have changed. Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later annexed the territory, proclaiming the city as their eternal and indivisible capital. Palestinians want to create the capital of their own state in the eastern half of Jerusalem. Israel has called the Palestinian maneuvers in international bodies diplomatic terrorism, while President Mahmoud Abbas last week said a legal, diplomatic war in the UN arena was a fair option for his government.

LAW
States may not deport or transfer parts of their own civilian population into a territory they occupy. Summary State practice establishes this rule as a norm of customary international law applicable in international armed conflicts. International armed conflicts The prohibition on deporting or transferring parts of a States own civilian population into the territory it occupies is set forth in the Fourth Geneva Convention.[1] It is a grave breach of Additional Protocol I.[2] Under the Statute of the International Criminal Court, the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupiesconstitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.[3] Many military manuals prohibit the deportation or transfer by a party to the conflict of parts of its civilian population into the territory it occupies.[4] This rule is included in the legislation of numerous States.[5] Official statements and reported practice also support the prohibition on transferring ones own civilian population into occupied territory.[6] Attempts to alter the demographic composition of an occupied territory have been condemned by the UN Security Council.[7]

In 1992, it called for the cessation of attempts to change the ethnic composition of the population, anywhere in the former Yugoslavia.[8] Similarly, the UN General Assembly and UN Commission on Human Rights have condemned settlement practices.[9] According to the final report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Dimensions of Population Transfer, including the Implantation of Settlers and Settlements, the implantation of settlers is unlawful and engages State responsibility and the criminal responsibility of individuals.[10] In 1981, the 24th International Conference of the Red Cross reaffirmed that settlements in occupied territory are incompatible with article 27 and 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.[11] In the Case of the Major War Criminals in 1946, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg found two of the accused guilty of attempting the Germanization of occupied territories.[12] References [1] Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49, sixth paragraph (cited in Vol. II, Ch. 38, 334). [2] Additional Protocol I, Article 85(4)(a) (adopted by consensus) (ibid., 335). [3] ICC Statute, Article 8(2)(b)(viii) (ibid., 336). [4] See, e.g., the military manuals of Argentina (ibid., 346347), Australia (ibid., 348), Canada (ibid., 349), Croatia (ibid., 350), Hungary (ibid., 351), Italy (ibid., 352), Netherlands (ibid., 353), New Zealand (ibid., 354), Spain (ibid., 355), Sweden (ibid., 357), Switzerland (ibid., 357), United Kingdom (ibid., 358) and United States (ibid., 359). [5] See, e.g., the legislation of Armenia (ibid., 361), Australia (ibid., 362363), Azerbaijan (ibid., 364365), Bangladesh (ibid., 366), Belarus (ibid., 367), Belgium (ibid., 368), Bosnia and Herzegovina (ibid., 369), Canada (ibid., 371372), Congo (ibid., 373), Cook Islands (ibid., 374), Croatia (ibid., 375), Cyprus (ibid., 376), Czech Republic (ibid., 377), Germany (ibid., 379), Georgia (ibid., 380), Ireland (ibid., 381), Mali (ibid., 384), Republic of Moldova (ibid., 385), Netherlands (ibid., 386), New Zealand (ibid., 387388), Niger (ibid., 390), Norway (ibid., 391), Slovakia (ibid., 392), Slovenia (ibid., 393), Spain (ibid., 394), Tajikistan (ibid., 395), United Kingdom (ibid., 397398), Yugoslavia (ibid., 399) and Zimbabwe (ibid., 400); see also the draft legislation of Argentina (ibid., 360), Burundi (ibid., 370), Jordan (ibid., 382), Lebanon (ibid., 383) and Trinidad and Tobago (ibid., 396). [6] See, e.g., the statements of Kuwait (ibid., 405) and United States (ibid., 406407) and the reported practice of Egypt (ibid., 402) and France (ibid., 403). [7] See, e.g., UN Security Council, Res. 446 , 452 and 476 (ibid., 408), Res. 465 (ibid., 409) and Res. 677 (ibid., 410). [8] UN Security Council, Res. 752 (ibid., 411). [9] See, e.g., UN General Assembly, Res. 36/147 C, 37/88 C, 38/79 D, 39/95 D and 40/161 D (ibid., 412) and Res. 54/78 (ibid., 405); UN Commission on Human Rights, Res. 2001/7 (ibid., 413). [10] UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights, Final report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Dimensions of Population Transfer, including the Implantation of Settlers and Settlements (ibid., 415). [11] 24th International Conference of the Red Cross, Res. III (ibid., 419). [12] International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Case of the Major War Criminals, Judgement (ibid., 421).

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