LOC17:23
14:23 GMT
GENEVA, Sept 13 (KUNA) -- Commenting on the report of the Panel of Inquiry
on the flotilla incident of 31 May (Palmer Report), released this month, a
group of United Nations independent experts criticized its conclusion that
Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip is legal.
"In pronouncing itself on the legality of the naval blockade, the Palmer
Report does not recognize the naval blockade as an integral part of Israel's
closure policy towards Gaza which has a disproportionate impact on the human
rights of civilians," stressed the experts.
"As a result of more than four years of Israeli blockade, 1.6 million
Palestinian women, men and children are deprived of their fundamental human
rights and subjected to collective punishment, in flagrant contravention of
international human rights and humanitarian law," they said. "Israel's siege
of Gaza is extracting a human price that disproportionately harms Palestinian
civilians."
For the UN experts, "decisive steps must be taken to defend the dignity and
basic welfare of the civilian population of Gaza, more than half of whom are
children.
The Israeli blockade of Gaza must end immediately and the people of Gaza
must be afforded protection in line with international law."
Under human rights law and international humanitarian law the people of
Gaza, even while living under occupation, have the right to an adequate
standard of living, and to the continued improvement of living conditions.
This right includes access to affordable and adequate food, and sufficient
quantities of safe, accessible and affordable water, as well as proper
sanitation services and facilities. Gazans also have the right to the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, but for many years
have been experiencing declining and subsistence standards that are below
minimum levels.
"At least two-thirds of Gazan households are food insecure, and evidence
has shown that the so-called 'easing' of the blockade has not led this to
improve," observed Olivier De Schutter, the Special Rapporteur on the right to
food. "People are forced to make unacceptable trade offs, often having to
choose between food or medicine or water for their families".
Approximately 35 per cent of Gaza's arable land and 85 per cent of its
fishing waters are totally or partially inaccessible due to Israeli military
measures.
The Special Rapporteur called on Israel "to immediately lift restrictions
on access to land and sea in order for agricultural- and fishing-dependent
livelihoods to rebuild and thrive, reducing aid dependency, and allowing local
production of food to increase."
Up to 90-95 per cent of Gaza's water is polluted and unfit for human
consumption, and large quantities of untreated sewage are being released into
the environment every day.
"This reality is a grave threat to the health and dignity of the people
living in Gaza and immediate measures are required to ensure full enjoyment of
the rights to water and sanitation. Israel must facilitate the entry of
necessary materials to rebuild the water and sanitation systems in Gaza, as a
matter of priority, otherwise this public health catastrophe will continue
unabated," stated the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking
water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque.
"Urgent steps are also needed to protect the coastal acquifer, the sole
fresh water source in Gaza, from further deterioration. Pollution of the
acquifer from raw sewage, over-abstraction of water, and increased salinity
are so severe that it may take centuries to reverse the damage caused to this
vital source of water," De Albuquerque added.
The blockade has severely hampered the ability of the health system in Gaza
to properly function preventing an upgrade of its physical infrastructure,
placing obstacles to the entry of medical equipment and its maintenance, and
the supply of essential medicine and disposables.
"Glaring gaps in the availability of key medical services have created the
need to refer patients with serious medical conditions to hospitals outside
Gaza for specialized, life-saving treatment," reported the Special Rapporteur
on the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health, Anand Grover.
Despite a slight increase in the average rate of approval for patient
referrals outside Gaza in the second half of 2010, one out of five patients
still missed hospital appointments because their permits were denied or
delayed.
"These patients must be guaranteed access to health facilities, goods and
services," underscored Mr. Grover, stating that the Government of Israel's
obligation to respect the right to health means that it must not deny or limit
equal access to health services.
According to the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights,
Magdalena Sepulveda, the Israeli blockade is the primary cause of the poverty
and deprivation experienced by the people of Gaza.
"In order for Gazans to have access to the economic opportunities necessary
to pull themselves out of poverty", Sepulveda stated, "all Gaza entry points
must be opened to facilitate freedom of movement for individuals, the
unhindered inflow of investment and industrial and agricultural inputs, and
the export of products from Gaza."
The Special Rapporteur emphasised that "there is also an urgent need to
ensure that sufficient quantities of medicines, fuel, spare parts for damaged
infrastructure, as well as cement, sand and other construction materials, are
able to reach the people of Gaza."
Israel, as a State Party to many of the international human rights
conventions, continues to bear responsibility for implementing its human
rights obligations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The International Court of Justice, United Nations human rights treaty
bodies and special procedures, and successive High Commissioners for Human
Rights have consistently confirmed that international human rights law and
international humanitarian law apply concurrently in all of the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip.
Richard Falk, Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
occupied Palestinian territory, stressed that "The Palmer report was aimed at
political reconciliation between Israel and Turkey. It is unfortunate that in
the report politics should trump the law."
Falk continued, "the most questionable move of the Palmer Panel was to
separate the naval blockade from the overall closure of Gaza to a normal
supply of humanitarian supplies, including supplies needed for medical
operations and sanitation.
The flotilla incident was about the effort to circumvent this aspect of
Israeli policies, and the organizers posed no objection to inspection carried
out to prevent weapons from entering Gaza."
The blockade of Gaza continues to violate international law, the experts
concluded, recalling that this conclusion had been reached by the
international fact-finding mission appointed by the Human Rights Council to
inquire into the 31 May 2010 flotilla incident in its report of September 2010.
"It is unacceptable that the human rights of the people of Gaza are
disregarded because of the positions adopted by political leaders", the
experts said. "It is not the Hamas Government that is being punished, but
ordinary Gazans." (end)
ta.tg
KUNA 131723 Sep 11NNNN