Following the designation of six Palestinian CSO as terrorist organisations, the international community must support and protect and ensure a safe and enabling environment for Palestinian civil society and HRDs.
ISHR is appalled by the worsening acts of aggression and grave human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories - including East Jerusalem - as well as against Palestinian citizens across Israel. We call for an immediate ceasefire and for all people to enjoy the rights to freedom, dignity, equality and justice.
ISHR welcomes the adoption of a historic resolution during the 30th Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council establishing the first-ever ongoing commission of inquiry to address human rights violations in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including by examining Israeli violations targeting the Palestinian people on both sides of the Green Line and root causes of Israel’s settler colonialism and apartheid.
The 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place on 30 June to 21 July 2020. The Council will consider issues including racism, sexual orientation and gender identity, violence and discrimination against women and girls, poverty, peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of expression, among others. It will also present an opportunity to address grave human rights situations in States including the Philippines, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Belarus, Venezuela, Burundi, Myanmar among many others. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
Civil society organisations welcomed significant outcomes of the Human Rights Council's 40th session, including the consensus adoption of a resolution on environmental human rights defenders, continued Council scrutiny over Sri Lanka, Myanmar, South Sudan, Syria and Iran, as well as initiation of Council action on Nicaragua and several joint statements on Saudi Arabia, Chechnya and Cameroon.
In light of the recent mass killing of civilians in occupied Palestine, ISHR joined 94 organisations in calling on the UN Human Rights Council to urgently launch an independent investigation into violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, occurring in the context of the "March of Great Return" and Nakba protests.
