During the 50th session of the Human Rights Council taking place from 13 June – 8 July 2022, Al-Haq, along with Palestinian Civil Society Organizations (‘CSOs’), engaged in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance held on 5 July 2022 under item 9 of the HRC agenda. In its oral statement, Al-Haq and partners welcomed the Special Rapporteur’s reference to Israel’s institutionalized discrimination against the Palestinian people as entailing systemic violation of their right to self-determination, and stressed that Israeli settler-colonialism, apartheid, occupation and annexation are the root causes impeding Palestinian development; calling on the Special Rapporteur to analyze sustainable development and racial discrimination against the Palestinian people in this context.
Palestinian CSOs also supported the urgent need to transform the overall international development paradigm based on neoliberalism and replace it with one that prioritizes collective interests and resources over individual ones, and to implement the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, reminding States of their responsibility to condemn and prevent the crime of apartheid wherever and whenever it occurs.
Finally, the oral statement asked the Special Rapporteur to conduct a field visit in colonized Palestine and suggest an anti-colonial development paradigm that supports the realization of Palestinians’ right to self-determination. It further urged UN member states to reconstitute the UN Special Committee against Apartheid and the UN Centre against Apartheid to monitor the implementation of the Apartheid Convention and mobilize to end Israeli apartheid practiced against the Palestinian people.
To read the full statement, please see here.
List of signatories:
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights
Aldameer Association for Human Rights
Bisan Center for Research and Development
Defense for Children International – Palestine
Hurryyat - Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights
Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center
Muwatin Institute for Democracy and Human Rights
Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH)
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (Ombudsman Office)
Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling