Human Rights in Israel - Human Rights Record in The Occupied Territories

Human Rights Record in The Occupied Territories

Further information: Human rights in the Palestinian National Authority

Since 1967, Israel has had control over territories which it captured from Egypt, Jordan and Syria during the Six-Day War. According to the United Nations, the occupied territories currently include the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is held by the State of Israel in belligerent occupation, and the entire Golan Heights which has been placed under civil administration. Residents of the Golan Heights are entitled to citizenship, voting rights and residency that allows them to travel within Israel's borders. Israel no longer exercises military control in the Gaza Strip, but has subjected it to various measures such as blockades and other measures it deems necessary to Israeli security. The government of Israel has declared that it observes the international humanitarian laws contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention in the occupied territories. Israel denies that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both of which it has signed, are applicable to the occupied Palestinian territory.

During the second Intifada, the UN Commission on Human Rights reported "widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights perpetrated by the Israeli occupying Power, in particular mass killings and collective punishments, such as demolition of houses and closure of the Palestinian territories, measures which constitute war crimes, flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity."

Israel advised the UN treaty monitoring bodies that the Occupied Palestinian territory is not part of its sovereign territory or jurisdiction and that they are part and parcel of an armed conflict. As a result, it has not submitted the periodic reports for the foreign territory under its national control in accordance with the terms of the international human rights covenants. It has explained that the fact that the Palestinian Council does not represent a State, does not, in itself, preclude its responsibility in the sphere of human rights protection. Israel believes that in light of transfer of responsibilities under the Oslo Accords, and the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Council, it cannot be held internationally responsible for the human rights guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in these areas.

In the process of answering the question put by the General Assembly, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined that Israel's territorial jurisdiction as the occupying Power is subject to an obligation not to raise any obstacle to the exercise of the right of self-determination and such rights in those fields where competence had been transferred to Palestinian authorities. The Court said that the human rights covenants are applicable with respect to acts done by a State in the exercise of its jurisdiction as an occupying power outside its own territory. The Court concluded that Israel had breached its obligations under international law by establishing settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and that Israel cannot rely on a right of self-defence or on a state of necessity in order to preclude the wrongfulness of imposing a régime, which is contrary to international law. The Court also concluded that the Israeli régime violates the basic human rights of the Palestinians by impeding the liberty of movement of the inhabitants of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (with the exception of Israeli citizens) and their exercise of the right to work, to health, to education and to an adequate standard of living.