Report of UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
There are "reasonable grounds" to believe that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories said on March 26. Francesca Albanese was speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where she presented her latest report, entitled Anatomy of a Genocide, during an interactive dialogue with UN member states. "For over 76 years, this process has oppressed the Palestinians as a people in every way imaginable, crushing their inalienable right to self-determination demographically, economically, territorially, culturally and politically," she said. "The genocide in Gaza is the most extreme stage of a long-standing settler colonial process of erasure of the native Palestinians," she added. "I implore member states to abide by their obligations which start with imposing an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel, and so ensure that the future does not continue to repeat itself," she concluded.
At the time Albanese addressed the Human Rights Council, she reported that 32,333 Palestinians had been killed since October 7, 2023 by Israel, including more than 13,000 children. Over 12,000 were presumed dead under the rubble and 74,694 wounded, many with life-changing injuries. Seventy per cent of residential areas had been destroyed. Eighty per cent of the entire population had been forcibly displaced. Thousands of families had lost loved ones or been wiped out entirely. Many could not bury and mourn their relatives and were forced instead to leave their bodies decomposing in homes, in the street or under the rubble. Thousands of Palestinians had been detained and systematically subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. Two million had been forced into hunger and starvation. "The incalculable collective trauma will be experienced for generations to come," the Special Rapporteur said.
The vehement anti-Palestinian discourse which portrays the entire Palestinian people in Gaza as enemies to be eradicated and forcibly removed has been pervasive across all segments of Israeli society, Albanese said. "Calls for violent annihilation from Israeli high-ranking officials with command authority aimed at soldiers on duty on the ground serve as compelling evidence of explicit and public encouragement to commit genocide," she said.
One of the key findings of Albanese's report is that Israel's executive and military leadership and soldiers have intentionally distorted foundational rules of international humanitarian law -- distinction, proportionality and precaution -- in an attempt to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people. "By deliberately redefining the categories of human shields, evacuation orders, safe zones, collateral damage and medical protection, Israel has used their protective functions as 'humanitarian camouflage' to conceal its genocidal campaign," she said.
"For over 70 years, this process has suffocated the Palestinians as a people -- demographically, culturally, economically and politically -- crushing their inalienable right to self-determination in an attempt to displace them and expropriate and control their lands," she said. "The ongoing Nakba must be stopped and remedied once and for all." Albanese said her report was a call to the world to ensure that Israel and third states adhere to their non-derogable obligations under the Genocide Convention, to prevent further loss of life, help survivors rebuild their lives, and ensure full accountability under both individual criminal and state responsibility.
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 26 - April 15, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS542610.HTM
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