United Nations Do Your Job

Re: Gross Human Rights Violations and War Crimes in the Gaza Strip

The UN Human Rights Council must urge the General Assembly to act under Resolution 377

Dear Member State of the UN Human Rights Council,

Representing the Palestinian human rights community, we write to you
with an urgent request for intervention by the UN Human Rights Council
to put an end to the war crimes and crimes against humanity being
committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) as a result of the
Israeli occupying forces' ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip. At least
400 persons, including many, many children, have been killed and over 2000
Palestinians have been injured. The civilian population of the occupied
Gaza Strip will inevitably continue to suffer heavy losses without the
external intervention of the international community; this is confirmed
by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak's assertion that this is a "war
to the bitter end."
































































































































































Grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention amounting to war crimes,
have been committed, including, wilful killing and the extensive
destruction of property not justified by military necessity and carried
out unlawfully and wantonly.

Furthermore, the continuing collective
punishment of the Gaza strip has left medical services unable to deal
with the increasing number of victims.

As member States of the UN Human Rights Council, you were fully apprised of the human rights situation in the OPT, during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Israel earlier this month.

The dire humanitarian
situation in the Gaza Strip was a dominant concern raised by States
during the review.

Despite recommendations to Israel concerning its obligation to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the capacity of Gaza's civilian infrastructure to respond to the
humanitarian needs of the population after days of bombardment has now
reached breaking point.

You have further been notified by Special Rapporteur Richard Falk of Israel's failure to cooperate with his
mandate and his call on "all Member States, as well as officials and
every relevant organ of the United Nations system, to move on an
emergency basis not only to condemn Israel's serious violations, but to
develop new approaches to providing real protection for the Palestinian
people."

We note that the Security Council has thus far failed to take concrete
steps despite the gravity of the situation. However, General Assembly
President Miguel D'Escoto's statement that "the time has come to take
firm action if the UN does not want to be rightly accused of complicity
by omission" offers a platform for concrete action that should be
supported by the Human Rights Council.

It is our considered judgement that the only effective measure the UN
Human Rights Council can take under these specific circumstances is to
issue a resolution requesting the General Assembly to convene under GA Resolution 377, "Uniting for Peace," with a view towards the imposition of collective measures against the Israeli Government. We urge this approach having duly considered the implications for the Human Rights Council as well as the human rights of the Palestinian people should Israel again impede or ignore the Council's interventions. We believe that such a step would halt the escalation of civilian deaths, offer
hope to civilians in despair over the political deadlock and ultimately
serve the long-term interests of peace.

Sincere regards,

Palestinian Human Rights Community

Al-Haq
Adalah
Arab Association for Human Rights-HRA
Addameer Prisoners' Support & Human Rights Association
Ad-Dameer Association for Human Rights
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights
Defence for Children International
Ensan Center for Democracy & Human Rights
Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR)
Jerusalem Legal Aid & Human Rights Center (JLAC)
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal
Profession, Musawa
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS)
Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC)
Women's Studies Center
The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations' Network - PNGO