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UK catalogues long list of Israeli human rights abuses

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, March 26, IRNA – The British government Thursday catalogued a long list of human rights abuses and international law violations by Israel against the Palestinians.

In its latest Annual Report on Human Rights for 2008, the UK Foreign Office expressed serious concerns about the Israeli-imposed restrictions on Gaza and their detrimental impact on the humanitarian situation.

“Although there is no permanent physical Israeli presence in Gaza, given the significant control Israel has over Gaza’s borders, airspace and territorial waters, Israel retains obligations as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention,” the report said.

“The Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that an occupying power must co-operate in facilitating the passage and distribution of relief consignments,” it warned.

Concern was also raised about the “disproportionate or indiscriminate” use of force by Israel, even before its latest slaughter of some 1,440 Palestinians in Gaza.

In 2008 up until the beginning of December, some 457 Palestinians were killed by Israel compared with 392 in the whole of 2007. The number injured also rose from 1,843 to 2,145.

“While we recognise Israel’s right to defend its citizens, we also believe that Israel must comply with its obligations under international law, including the obligation to avoid the use of force,” the Foreign Office said.

It also reported a “significant increase in settlement activity, despite Israel’s repeated commitment to freeze settlement growth.”

“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal under international law and a major obstacle to peace. Continued settlement activity is in contravention of Israel’s obligations under the 2003 Roadmap,” the report said.

Concern was further expressed about the increase in violence against Palestinians and their property by illegal Israeli settlers, saying there were 290 incidents reported in the West Bank in the first 10 months of 2008, compared with 243 for the same period in 2007 and 182 in 2006.

“Since 2006 approximately half of all the Palestinians injured by settler violence were women, children and the elderly. We are concerned that the Israeli authorities do not adequately enforce the rule of law,” the Foreign Office said.

Israel’s resumption of house demolitions was also criticised especially after they were supposed to have been halted under a moratorium agreed with the Quartet of Russia, the US, the EU and UN in May last year.

The British Foreign Office further said it remained “worried” about Israeli confiscation of property and the eviction of their occupants and “extremely concerned” about the Israeli use of the Absentee Property Law and the impact on the private property rights of the owners.

Other human rights abuses included restrictions on the movement of Palestinians that have a humanitarian and economic impact in the occupied territories, with the number of checkpoints in the West Bank rising by 41 to 607 between September 2007 and April 2008.

Continuing criticism about Israel’s illegal barrier was added to by further constructions in 2008, with the report reminding the Zionist regime that the chosen route is “contrary to international law.”

Likewise, concern was expressed about the permit system imposed on the Palestinians to enter Jerusalem for work, education or medical treatment, saying there was no requirement to state reasons for denials and no appeals process.

Other issues included some 800 Palestinian prisoners still being held in administrative detention without trial or charge, detainee abuse and interrogation techniques.

The report also reminded Israel about its treatment of non-Jewish minorities, who were denied full social and political equality that they were entitled to.

The long list of Israeli human rights abuses, which was mixed with criticism of the Palestinians, was included in the 194-page Foreign Office report that covered 21 countries classified as of “major concern,” but none were in Europe, or North and South America.