On Monday, November 7, the United Nations independent commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem and Israel, started a series of public hearings from victims and survivors of Israeli atrocities. The hearing is taking place at the headquarters of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The first day of the public hearing concluded with the testimonies of representatives from three of the seven Palestinian human rights groups recently banned Israel.
Al-Haq general director Shawan Jabarin, Khaled Quzmar from Defence for Children International–Palestine and Saheer Francis from Addameer presented their testimonies to the commission on Monday. Jabarin said that Israel has been trying to shut down the work of Al-Haq in order to silence Palestinian voices. He added that Israel’s allegations that Al-Haq is a terrorist group were “like an execution.”
In his testimony before the COI, our G.D. Shawan Jabarin discusses the baseless and arbitrary allegations against Al-Haq, how the designations and raids took place! #StandWithThe6 #ProtectPalCivilSociety https://t.co/WMmCLS6xbN
— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) November 7, 2022
Al-Haq was one of the seven Palestinian groups that were labeled as “terrorist organizations” by the Israeli government in 2021. Their offices were raided and forcibly shut down earlier this year. The Israeli state has failed to produce any evidence in support of its claims. The seven groups have alleged that Israel’s labeling is an act of political persecution and violation of human rights.
During the public hearing, the commission of inquiry will focus on “closure orders and terrorism designation of a number of Palestinian human rights organizations, and on incidents surrounding the killing of the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh,” stated a press release issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on November 1.
Chief investigator Navi Pillay claimed that the purpose behind holding the public hearing is not about drawing conclusions or passing judgements but to “allow victims and survivors on all sides to speak for themselves to the international community.”
Victims and witnesses of #HumanRightsViolations testified today in the first of several public hearings by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. Watch on UNTV ? https://t.co/p9TAkfKk5Y pic.twitter.com/5HYdIZuqQW
— UN Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) November 7, 2022
Pillay, a South African lawyer and former head of the UNHRC (2008-14), was appointed to head the three member panel in June 2021. Miloon Kothari from India and Chris Sidoti from Australia are the other two members. The panel is mandated to “investigate in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian laws and all alleged abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021.”
In addition, the commission is also mandated to investigate “all underlying root causes of recurring tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic racial or religious identity.”
The constitution of the commission of inquiry was based on a resolution adopted by an overwhelming majority during the UNHRC special session in May, 2021 following the Israeli aggression in Gaza in the same month, which killed over 250 Palestinians and caused significant damage to civilian infrastructure in the besieged territory.
The public hearing is a rare method of UN investigation and is happening after a gap of over a decade. Israel has officially refused to cooperate with the UN investigations and denounced the public hearing as “sham trials.”
