UN DEBATES: STATE OF PALESTINE MUST EXERCISE RIGHT TO SOVEREIGNTY…
States News Service
November 4, 2014 Tuesday
STATE OF PALESTINE MUST EXERCISE RIGHT TO SOVEREIGNTY, DELEGATES URGE
AS THIRD COMMITTEE CONCLUDES THEMATIC DEBATE
NEW YORK
The following information was released by the United Nations:
All peoples had a fundamental entitlement to sovereignty and the State
of Palestine must be able to exercise that right, several delegates
told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today
as it concluded its general discussion on self-determination and
the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance.
During the debate, a number of speakers called self-determination the
core principle of all international instruments for the protection
of human rights. Spotlighting the Palestinian people’s struggle for
statehood, some delegates expressed grave concerns over Israel’s human
rights violations. Iran’s representative was particularly concerned
about illegal settlements on occupied territory.
“It was no coincidence that those who were denied political status
tended to be the poorest and most repressed in the countries where they
lived,” said a representative of Maldives, calling for a two-State
solution for the multi-decade conflict. Where occupied people called
for help, the international community had a duty to act, he said.
A representative of the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of
Palestine voiced a call on the international community to take the
necessary steps to bring an end to all Israeli violations. For nearly
five decades, they had been subjected to a myriad of violations,
including institutionalized racism and discrimination in its most
barbaric forms. While the Palestinian citizens of Israel constituted
one-fifth of the Israeli population, they continued to be targeted by
a barrage of racist laws making them second- and third-class citizens
in their own land.
Further, Palestinian people had been deprived of their rights to
self-determination and sovereignty over their land, she said. She
highlighted that the right of self-determination of peoples
underpinned all other human rights, as recognized in Article 1 of
both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Responding, in exercise of the right of reply, Israel’s representative
said that if Palestine wanted self-determination it must disengage
from Hamas. It must also return to negotiations with his country.
Only direct negotiations would help to resolve the situation, he said.
Neither speeches at the United Nations nor “the war initiated by
Hamas in the summer” would help in that regard.
Also delivering statements were representatives of Armenia, Georgia,
Eritrea, Turkey, Colombia and Argentina, as well as the International
Organization for Migration.
Exercising the right of reply were representatives of Azerbaijan,
Israel and Armenia, as well as the State of Palestine.
The Third Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 5 November,
when it is expected to hear a briefing by the High Commissioner
for Refugees.
Background
The Third Committee met this morning to continue its consideration
of the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia
and related intolerance, as well as the right of peoples to
self-determination. For background, see Press Release GA/SHC/4115 of
3 November.
Statements
SAHAK SARGSYAN (Armenia) said his country considered the exercise of
the right to self-determination as a major component of the promotion,
protection and respect for human rights in all parts of the world.
According to both United Nations international covenants on the
matter, he noted, the right to self-determination included the right
to determining political status. Accordingly, the principle of the
right to self-determination was a binding and universally recognized
fundamental norm of international law. One could not blame the people
of Nagorno-Karabakh in the success of their self-defence, as the
opposite would have been the total annihilation and obliteration of
a whole population. The peaceful settlement of the Nogorno-Karabakh
conflict through negotiations in an agreed format and based on the
principles of international law, including the right of peoples to
self-determination, was an imperative, supported by the international
community. In conclusion, he reiterated his country’s appreciation
of the major role and mandate of the United Nations to guarantee
the unconditional enjoyment of the right to self-determination to be
safeguarded to all nations and people on a permanent basis.
JEFFREY SALIM WAHEED (Maldives) said that over the last few decades,
the international community had seen steady progress in decolonization,
with many Pacific island countries gaining their independence in the
1990s. Yet foreign occupation remained a reality in some parts of the
world. “It was no coincidence that those who were denied political
status tended to be the poorest and most repressed in the countries
where they lived,” he added. Where occupied people called for help,
the international community had a duty to act. The Palestinian
people had made that call again and again but self-determination
continued to elude them. The Maldives was deeply concerned about the
worsening human rights situation abuses in Palestine and stressed
that a two-State solution was the only viable solution for that
multi-decade-long conflict.
FORDUZANDEH VADIATI (Iran) addressed the report of
the Secretary-General on the realization of the right to
self-determination, sharing the concern of the Special Rapporteur on
the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
and Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Thorough
prolonged occupation, with practices and policies that appeared to
constitute apartheid and segregation, ongoing settlement expansion
and continual construction of the separation wall made evident the
denial of the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people,
she added. The only solution to the Palestinian issue, she said, would
be the restoration of their sovereign right to self-determination,
as well as putting an immediate end to the occupation of their land.
NADYA RIFAAT RASHEED, Permanent Observer Mission of the State of
Palestine, said the right of self-determination of peoples underpinned
all other human rights, as it was recognized by the Article 1 in both
international covenants on human rights and customary international
law. For nearly five decades, she continued, not only had the
Palestinian people been deprived of their rights to self-determination
and sovereignty over their land but they had also repeatedly been
subjected to a myriad of violations of their fundamental human rights
and freedoms. In complete disregard of international law and repeated
calls by the international community, Israel had continued with its
illegal settlement campaign and de facto annexation of Palestinian
land. In addition to the illegality of Israeli settlements and the
human rights violations that stemmed from them, the human rights
of the Palestinian people continued to be violated by the more
than 520,000 illegal settlers, many armed and fanatical, who had
been illegally transferred to the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem. Further, she drew attention to the report of
Special Rapporteur Richard Falk, who had asked why Israel supported
the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, thus moving
an increasing number of Israeli citizens in the area.
TAMTA KUPRADZE (Georgia), aligning her delegation with the statement
delivered on behalf of the European Union, said that her Government had
taken significant measures to address discrimination, including the Law
of Georgia on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, adopted on 2
May, 2014. The country continued to face major challenges in meeting
its human rights commitments inside the occupied regions of Georgia,
as the regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali remained under foreign
military occupation. Kidnappings, physical abuse and other crimes
against ethnic Georgians were an unfortunate reality for the local
population. It was crucial that the situation in the occupied regions
was brought within the reach of international human rights mechanisms.
ELSA HAILE (Eritrea) said that non-discrimination formed the core
principle of all international instruments for the protection of human
rights. It was deplorable that millions of individuals continued to
be targeted on the basis of their race, religion or gender. Noting
with concern the rising xenophobic and racially motivated violence
against migrants in Europe and North America, she called on States
to take adequate measures to protect migrants. It was also crucial
to redress the historical imbalances created by racism, including
slavery. All States must make the efforts necessary to adopt the
International Decade of People of African Descent.
YIÄþIT CANAY (Turkey) said that the definition of racial discrimination
in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination was directly applicable in his country, where a
series of legal reforms, including the adoption of a new penal code,
had brought domestic laws in line with global standards. Noting
with concern that crimes motivated by racism persisted within the
European Union, he said that one example of blatant xenophobia was
an insulting caricature of the President of Turkey and the Turkish
immigrant community, which was reprinted in a school text book
in a European Union member State under the pretext of “integration
problems”. Countries hosting immigrant communities must be particularly
vigilant about protecting the rights of those vulnerable groups. Local,
regional and national authorities must display the sensitivity to
stand up against stereotyping and discrimination.
MARA PAULINA DVILA DVILA (Colombia) said it was important to call upon
the international community to ensure that every person had access
to education and justice. As Member States could notice in the United
Nations reports, she emphasized, despite actions and measures adopted,
people of African descent faced challenges in all parts of the world,
including lack of access to quality education, health services
and social security. Noting the diverse population of Colombia,
she said her Government was committed to eliminating all forms of
racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,
guaranteeing that all citizens lived under the principle of equality.
One significant achievement was the implementation of an
anti-discrimination law in her country.
MARA LUZ MEL”N (Argentina) said only 10 years ago, the Government had
adopted a national plan that had gone beyond the Durban Declaration
and Programme of Action. Argentina was convinced that sports could
play an instrumental role in the social development. With respect
to discrimination in sports, as discussed by the Third Committee
yesterday, her Government was directly cooperating with football clubs
to promote good practices campaigns and measures to combat racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. It was
also important that national policies were in line with international
expectations. Accordingly, Argentina had been training teachers and
publishing educational materials to teach diversity and tolerance.
Ms. RASHEED, Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine,
said as the Committee discussed the important issue of the elimination
of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,
the Palestinian people living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
continued to suffer from an increased level of all forms of such
practices. Since 1967, she underlined, the occupying Power had
institutionalized racism and discrimination in its most barbaric forms,
which was a prolonged foreign military occupation with elements of
colonialism and apartheid. The rise in anti-Arab racism in Israel
was fuelled by the direct incitement and declarations by Israeli
Government officials against the Palestinian people.
While the Palestinian citizens of Israel constituted one-fifth of
the Israeli population, they continued to be targeted by a barrage
of racist laws making them second- and third-class citizens in their
own land. Concluding, she said the State of Palestine truly hoped
that the epidemic violence among the settler population and among
some in Israeli society would be brought to an end, and called upon
the international community to take the necessary steps to bring an
end to all Israeli violations.
MICHELE KLEIN SOLOMON, Permanent Observer of the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) said that one in every seven people
on the planet today had migrated either across or within borders in
pursuit of a better life for themselves and their families.
Paradoxically, there was widespread anti-migrant sentiment in many
parts of the world. Even countries that had in the past taken pride
in being called a “nation of migrants” no longer wished to welcome
those arriving at their borders today. The overwhelmingly positive
contribution that migrants made to societies and economies was being
overshadowed while international and domestic debates on migration
were turning feverish and highly politicized. Migrants had become
convenient scapegoats for problems, such as unemployment and security
issues, which were rooted in more complex development processes.
Governments, media, the private sector and civil society, she
added, had important roles to play in addressing misperceptions
about migration. Her organization was pleased to see Member States
reaffirm that principle during the 2013 United Nations General Assembly
High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development. For
its part, IOM had supported the call for intercultural dialogue and
a stronger political will to reverse trends of xenophobia and violence.
In the autumn of 2013, it had also launched Migrants Contribute,
a global campaign intended to highlight the diverse contributions
that migrants made to their societies.
Right of Reply
Exercising the right of reply, a representative of Azerbaijan said
that the statement made by the representative of Armenia was full of
distortions and was intended to mislead the international community.
Documentary evidence proved that Armenia had attacked Azerbaijan and
had carried out ethnic cleansing on a massive scale. Security Council
resolutions of 1992 had condemned the use of force against Azerbaijan
and called for an unconditional withdrawal of occupying forces. What
Armenia called the exercise of the right to self-determination by
the ethnic Armenian groups living within Azerbaijan was an illegal
use of force that Armenia was seeking to legitimize.
Also speaking in exercise of the right of reply, a representative of
Israel said that if the Palestinian side wanted self-determination,
they must disengage from Hamas and return to negotiations with Israel.
Only direct negotiations would help to resolve the situation. Speeches
here or “the war initiated by Hamas in the summer” would not help.
Responding, a representative of Armenia, exercising the right of
reply, said that he regretted that the delegation of Azerbaijan
had continued to distort the struggle for self-determination by the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh. He said that Azerbaijan’s delegation had
spoken under the agenda item of self-determination while suppressing
the rights of those people. More than two decades ago, Azerbaijan
had unleashed a full-scale war against Nagorno-Karabakh but its
claims to so-called territorial integrity were politically, legally,
historically and morally deficient. While alleging that Armenia
was not implementing resolutions, Azerbaijan was the one violating
resolutions and misinterpreting a 1993 resolution that had asked for
immediate ceasefire. Armenia had continued to use its good offices
to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Exercising the right of reply, a representative of Permanent Observer
Mission of the State of Palestine said that the comments made by
Israel’s delegate were predictable and false. Many of Israel’s
violations amounted to war crimes. She said that her statement
delivered earlier this morning had conveyed the stark reality of
life under occupation. Could the delegate of Israel actually deny
the human rights violations that had been carried out by Israel in
the State of Palestine?, she said, asking, “can you say with a clear
conscience that Israel did not carry out unlawful policies against the
Palestinian people?”Regarding the peace process, she added that the
entire world had borne witness to a peace process that had gone on for
20 years and had only resulted in the entrenchment of the occupation
and countless wars and destruction. Israel must stop using the peace
process as a cover for continuing its oppressive policies, she said.
Taking the floor for a second time, the representative of Azerbaijan
said that there was no doubt that the Armenian ethnic minority group
did not fall into any of the categories that were considered eligible
for self-determination under international law. How many times could
one nation exercise its right to self-determination? she asked.
Armenia had already exercised it and there was a sovereign state called
Armenia. High-ranking Armenian officials regularly made statements
that promoted hatred and were “tantamount to war-mongering,” she said.
Also speaking for a second time, the representative of Armenia said
that it was impossible to remain silent when the representative
of Azerbaijan continued to engage in distortion. The people of
Nagorno-Karabakh had exercised their right to self-determination, in
accordance with international laws. Civil society in that territory
continued to participate in political processes. Armenia attached
great importance to the rule of law, justice and human rights and
called on the leadership of Azerbaijan to stop its war-mongering and
to prepare its people for peace, not war.
For information media. Not an official record.
From: A. Papazian