Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Palestine |
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| se7en |
| 11/28/01 at 10:49:06 |
Hi, I compiled this today as part of a project I'm working on and thought it might come in handy for you or someone you know at some point. Those of you working primarily on South West Asia might want to take a look at the entire United Nations Charter --for some real hilarity. Now I know why a friend wrote that it was obsolete the day it was written. --Jennifer The Right of Return, Resistance, & Self-Determination Selected Documentation of International Resolutions and Declarations on the Palestinian Refugees and Related Issues. 1. Charter of the United Nations, entered into force 24 October 1945: Among the purposes of the UN Charter as outlined in Chapter One, article 1 is "to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;" 2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 13: (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. [Adopted and Proclaimed by the United Nations on 10 December 1948. Israel signed the declaration.] 3. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194. Date: 11 December 1948. Subject: Palestine. Relevant passages: Paragraph 11 "…Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible. ["The UN General Assembly] instructs the Conciliation Commission (France, Turkey, & the United States) to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and payment of compensation…" 4. Fourth Geneva Convention: Adopted on 12 August 1949 and entered into force on 21 October 1950. Israel is a signatory to this convention, which has the same legal status as a treaty. As such, the signatories are considered high contracting parties and are therefore in breach of the treaty when refusing to enforce its provisions. Israel is in violation of, among others, the following articles (pertaining to Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories both as refugees and permanent residents). Section III. Occupied Territories. *Article 47: Establishes that persons in the Occupied Territories must be not be deprived of the protections laid down in the Geneva Convention; i.e. the protections granted to victims of war. *Article 49: Prohibits under all circumstances deportations, individual or mass forcible transfers to other countries. Additionally, and significantly, article 49 states that the Occupying power [Israel] shall not transfer parts of its own civilian population [Israelis] into the territory it occupies. This renders all Jewish settlements illegal. 1. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 446 of 22 March 1979 reaffirms that the Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories (including the Golan Heights) "have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;" It also calls on Israel as an occupying power to abide by the 4th Geneva Convention and to desist from taking any action that would change the legal status or the demographic make-up of the Occupied Territories including Jerusalem. The UN Security Council adopts a similar resolution on 20 July 1979. *Article 50: Forbids the shutting down of educational institutions in the Occupied Territories (elementary and secondary schools; trade schools; colleges and universities). *Article 53: Forbids the destruction of people's homes, land, property, crops, and social or cooperative community organizations. *Article 76: Makes it illegal to detain people accused of offences in Israel (i.e. they must remain in the Occupied Territories their own land). They must be given food and hygiene necessary to ensure proper health; They must receive medical attention if necessary; they have the right to receive any religious or spiritual assistance; Minors must be treated with proper regard; Women shall be confined in separate quarters and supervised by other women; and delegates of a protecting power or of the International Committee of the Red Cross have the right to visit all detainees. 5. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2727 of 5 December 1970. Item (2): "Calls upon the Government of Israel immediately…to comply with its obligations under the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the relevant resolutions adopted by the various international organizations." 6. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3236 of 22 November 1974, "The Question of Palestine". (1) "Reaffirms the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in Palestine, including, (a) The right to self-determination without external interference; (b) The right to national independence and sovereignty;" (2) "Reaffirms also the inalienable right of the Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted, and calls for their return;" (3) "Emphasizes that full respect for and the realization of these inalienable rights of the Palestinian people are indispensable for the solution of the question of Palestine;"…. (5) "Further recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to regain its rights by all means in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations;" 7. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 42/159 of 7 December 1987: Authorizes the right of peoples living under occupation to resist that occupation and to seek and receive support of outside parties. This is highly significant for us today as it means that those groups that have resisted Israeli occupation in the past (such as Hizbullah in Lebanon), and those groups that continue to resist Israeli occupation in the present (such as Islamic Jihad, Hamas, the PFLP, the DFLP, Fatah, and others) are legitimate resistance movements rather than "terrorist" organizations. Offensive actions such as suicide bombings against civilians, however, are considered illegitimate means of resistance, i.e. criminal acts of aggression. 8. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 51/124 of December 1996: "Notes with regret that repatriation or compensation of the refugees, as provided for in paragraph 11 of its resolution 194…has not yet been effected and that, therefore, the situation of the refugees continues to be a matter of concern;" 9. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 51/126 of 13 December 1996: (1) Reaffirms the right of all persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities to return to their homes or former places of residence in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967. (2) Expresses the hope for an accelerated return of displaced persons through the mechanism agreed upon by the parties in article XII of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements; and (3) Endorses…the efforts of the…United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to continue to provide humanitarian assistance…" 10. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 51/129 of 13 December 1996: (1) "Reaffirms that the Palestine Arab refugees are entitled to their property and to the income derived therefrom, in conformity with the principles of justice and equity;" (2) "Requests the Secretary-General to take all appropriate steps, in consultation with the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, for the protection of Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel and to preserve and modernize these existing records;" … (5) "Urges the Palestinian and Israeli sides, as agreed between them, to deal with the important issue of Palestine refugees' properties and their revenues in the framework of the final status negotiations of the Middle East peace process." 11. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 52/114 of 52nd Session, 1997: Affirms, yet again, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. Many other resolutions pertaining to Palestine and Israel exist and should be examined for a comprehensive study of the international legal dimensions of the conflict. |
| Re: Palestine |
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| se7en |
| 12/14/01 at 01:02:46 |
as salaamu alaykum, email I received recently.. === Geneva Convention censures Israel for human rights violations: http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/e/home/foreign/hupol/4gc.html#0009 Anti-Defamation League responds to the convention by issuing a statement defending Israel's terrorist campaign: http://www.adl.org/PresRele/IslME_62/4012_62.asp |
| Re: Palestine |
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| se7en |
| 01/24/02 at 16:08:28 |
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 07:13:55 -0500 From: "Zahi Damuni" <zdamuni@msn.com> Subject: 2002 Review: Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon From: Ghassan Abdallah, General Executive Coordinator Palestinian Human Rights Organization-Rights (P.H.R.O.) Member of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network(EMHRN) e-mail: PHRO@PalHuamnRights.org & PHRO@PalHumanRights.com P.O.Box:114/5004 Beirut, Lebanon TeleFax: 00-961-1-855389*Phone:00-961-3-780034/843883 2002: A review of the status of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon 1- Facts and numbers. UNRWA's 2001 numbers claim that the total number of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon is 382,973, 56% of whom reside in 12 camps distributed on Lebanese territories. The PLO and the Lebanese government raise this number to around 415,000, allowing roughly a 33,000 UNRWA unregistered refugees. Half of those Refugees were Red Cross Registered only before Lebanese authorities agreed to recognize them; the thing that UNRWA hasn't done yet. The second half was registered by orders of former Interior Minsters (between 1969-1978). Furthermore, a third category of refugees is unaccounted for by neither UNRWA nor the Lebanese government. This category includes around 15,000 (estimates of popular camp committees) Palestinians who do not have any kind of ID's. Consequently, those are denied the right of work, travel, registering in educational institutions, legal marriage, buying estate... 2- Historical Background. The status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has certain intrinsic properties unique to the Lebanese host and that are distinct from situations in other host countries. Historically speaking, Lebanon has been established on the basis of a delicate and sensitive religious / sectarian balance. Any disturbance of this balance can easily set the fuse to the entire demographic mosaic in Lebanon. Such disturbances have been cited as underlying causes of the 20-years civil war. The Palestinian presence is widely considered as a disturbing factor for such critical balance. Thus doubts and caution among Lebanese officials and part of the public has lead to policies and laws aiming at marginalizing the Palestinian population politically, economically and socially in order to prevent their integration in the Lebanese mosaic. Such policies and laws has bred enmity towards Palestinians and severed connections between Lebanese and Palestinian communities. To make things worse, consecutive Lebanese governments have treated the Palestinian file as a security problem rather than a Humanitarian crisis. Camps in which the majority of Palestinians live are considered as out-law islands; and refugees are considered as unwelcome guests. The most disturbing part is the growing trend to trace the reasons for the 20-years civil war to the Palestinian presence in Lebanon by magnifying the Palestinian role in that war. Hence the refugees are expected to pay the bill. Such pressures, when applied on the refugees community that was devastated by Israeli invasion, Sabra & Chatila massacres and «War on the Camps» have all put Palestinians under the threat of a new exodus. This feeling is aggravated by the daily provocative hatred campaigns launched by some Lebanese Politicians and media and some groups with sectarian incentives against the Palestinian presence. 3- Lebanese Policy. In short, Lebanese authorities policies lead to goading Palestinian refugees to destitution making them ready to pack their luggage and leave to the first country that accepts them. Ironically, all Human Rights violations mentioned below are committed by Lebanese authorities under the veil of protecting the national rights of Palestinian refugees - especially the Right of Return. This has manifested itself by several restrictions forced on the refugees' community: a- Restrictions on accommodation: The governmental policy is simply: 1- No for rebuilding the 3 Camps destroyed during the civil war. 2- No for building new Camps. 3- No for enlarging the existing Camps. 4- No for Palestinian ownership of real estate (refer to g). In practice, this policy has led to prohibiting the entry of building material to Camps in South Lebanon and preventing the repair of war-damaged houses by restricting the repair permits. Violators of this policy have been arrested and brought in front of military courts after venturing and «smuggling» a paint bucket or a cement sac. As a result, refugees live in sub-human standards best depicted by a population density of 18 persons per square meter in Ain-El-Hilweh Camp in South Lebanon. Such a dense population is also deprived of enough water resources, stable supply of electric power etc... The densely populated and under-serviced camps also lack the necessary infrastructure. Absence of sanitation systems and garbage collection services further complicate the environmental status. In addition, several of the Camps are under the threat of being partially pulled down in order to make way for roads and post-war rebuilding of Beirut. This is one of the causes that has led to the shrinkage of UNRWA's Camp rebuilding aid. Under such conditions, one can easily imagine the ghetto's refugees live in when shifting the sight between Palestinian Camps and their neighborhood. b- Security Restrictions: Tight security procedures around most of camps have started in 1986 during and after the Lebanese militias' «war on camps». However, the status of refugees has recently worsened. Under the veil of presence of «outlawed weapons and persons», all 5 Camps in the South have been put under military siege. Entry and exist is limited to one road and is subject to meticulous military measures. Civilians in some occasions wait for an hour when they need to enter or exist the camps. c- Work Restrictions: Palestinian refugees cannot work before obtaining a work permit. This permit is subject to the role of «mutual treatment between countries». As a result, Palestinians cannot work in around 73 (46 according to Lebanese resources) different professions (including all respectable jobs as doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc...). Thus much of the qualified workers have to be content with competing with other foreigners for minor jobs, or work without permits and thus be under the mercy of employers. Surveys conducted by our organization demonstrated a 44% of unemployment and at 20% of occasional unemployment. Besides, around 12% of children aged 17 and less leave schools in search of jobs mainly in the fields of building, agriculture and services. d- Restrictions on traveling: Lebanese authorities have cancelled the requirement of «entrance / exist permission» in 1999 - the permission which meant that any refugee traveling from Lebanon practically had a time restriction on their return, the thing that some refugees viewed as a one-way ticket. Despite it's canceling, its repercussion continue to exist. Several countries deny visas to refugees fearing the reactivation of the permission procedure. e- Restrictions on representative bodies: The Lebanese law denies Palestinians the right to form syndicates and organizations by limiting such a privilege to Lebanese citizens only. This deprives the Palestinian community from practicing its civil rights. f- Restrictions on having a fair trial: Palestinian refugees are denied the access to judicial support fund, a financial form of aid offered to Lebanese citizens who cannot afford to hire the services of a lawyer to represent them in front of Lebanese courts. In practice, Palestinians who cannot afford it will have either of 2 destinies: - The refugee would bring to trial without a lawyer. Thus it is usual that refugees receive maximum verdicts. - With no lawyer to follow up his case, a refugee might spend in detention centers a period of time far more than the expected period, before being put to trial! However, recent amendments to laws of trial limited the maximum pre-trial detention period to 60 days. This welcomed amendment will hopefully benefit refugees who become forgotten in the detention centers. g- Restrictions on Ownership: A recent addition to restrictions was the law passed by the Lebanese parliament, which deprives Palestinians from owning real estate in Lebanon under the veil of preventing citizens of unestablished / unrecognized countries from owning real estate in Lebanon. Ironically, this description fits only Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon. According to the minutes of the Lebanese Parliament, this is a discriminative law that violates Human Rights. 4- The receding role of PLO. Since its exit from Beirut in 1982, PLO has systematically closed all of its institutions that used to accommodate and support a lot of refugees. The following Oslo Agreement, the PLO stopped all forms of aid (pensions, academic grants etc...). PLO's current general trend as noticed by the PHRO and other observers is abandoning the previous «guardian» role and leaving it to UNRWA. This is sensed from the minute size of budget reallocated (after years of absence) to Palestinians in Lebanon. However, the budget is constantly varying in its value, and is spent in a non-transparent way on the welfare of political advocators of the PLO. Finally, the Palestinian Authority is preoccupied in establishing a Palestinian state, in negotiations with the Israelis and in the events of Intifada. This leaves too little thought for refugees, especially in Lebanon - where political discord with the Lebanese authorities have been prevailing and limiting forms of cooperation. 5- UNRWA's shrinking services: Since 1994, a deficit has been inherent to UNRWA's budgets. Partly due to donors' unreliability and partly due to corruption, UNRWA had to shrink its services as follows: a- Health services: by limiting its beds to a number of mediocre hospitals and in which it pays a PART of the cost for a PART of the hospitalization period. The dependence of the refugees community on UNRWA's health services becomes self evident when one takes into consideration the extremely difficult socio-economic conditions and absence of any form of contributions from Lebanese host. In practice, the refugees have to literarily beg for whatever insufficient helps he gets. It is with quite a shame that we could actually document several cases of death at hospital doors and prevention of patients from leaving hospitals because of inability to pay the fees. In one of the occasions, bodies of a deceased patient were detained in the morgue for 15 days before relatives could secure the treatment fees. According to UNRWA, each of its doctors examines 80 patients per day allocating an average of 4 minutes for every patient who endeavors to visit its under equipped free clinics. The medications previously distributed freely have been greatly diminished, and the previously free full range of laboratory tests became a part of history. We conclude to say that a big slice of Palestinian community in Lebanon is partially or completely deprived of medical services. b- Educational services: Most of UNRWA's schools work on a two shift basis (morning and evening) due to lack of buildings. Also, UNRWA, the major employer of refugees, has changed its employing policy to hire Palestinians only on yearly basis rather than regular basis. It also has stopped providing its students with free books and stationary. Finally, its university grants programs have been diminished. Students in different educational stages await their gloomy future with pessimism. c- Social services: The UNRWA's extreme hardship program that benefited around 10% of registered refugees has greatly subfered from the budget deficit. Other programs as handicap aid, small loans program and women's activities have been downgraded. 6- Absence of authority: A major problem that faces refugees in Lebanon is the absence of an authority that represents them and treats their needs. The popular committees in Camps are far from being democratic or representative. Never the less, Lebanese authorities recognize them only when it comes to security issued. These same authorities prohibit the PLO and the Palestinian authority from having any formal representative in Lebanon to manage the conditions of Pale stinians. If that were due to a political position, one would expect that the PLO rivals would be recognized as representative of Palestinian refugees in front of Lebanese authorities. However, this is not the case. The only authority recognized is an imposed one. All refugees issues are put into the hands of «Department of Refugees», a branch of the Lebanese ministry of interior involved in issuing ID's and keeping track of refugees numbers. 7- Palestinian Point of View: The unity among refugees towards clinging to the right of return (78,6% according to a survey conducted by (PHRO) is counter balanced by a unity on the Lebanese official side to prevent the access of Palestinian refugees to their civil rights. This point of view claims to be based on the need to preserve the Palestinian national rights - including the right of return. However, refugees seem to have made up their mind to tolerate adverse conditions awaiting a fair solution rather than succumbing to pressure and initiating a massive emigration from Lebanon. Refugees do not perceive the Lebanese authority as an enemy neither do they want to be resettled in Lebanon; however, granting them their civil rights will support their quest for the right of return - the right Lebanese factions and authorities seem to advocate secondary to varying intrinsic causes. (These were the conclusions we arrived at from open-ended questions in our questionnaire). PHRO's Vision of a possible solution As a Palestinian Human Rights Organization, we perceive certain steps that need to be taken towards resolving the Refugees aspect of the Middle East Problem. We recommend that participants in the Trieste Conference, including European nations, NGO... take the following steps: A- Regarding Israel: The Fair Permanent Solution: All forms of pressure acceptable by International Laws should be exerted on Israel to alter its political position towards implementing UN Resolutions, especially number 194, «The Right to Return» Resolution. Full implementation of 194 constitutes the fair solution to the problems of Refugees. B- The Interim Stage: Meantime, while a waiting the fair permanant solution, participants in this conference should do their best to enhance the conditions of Palestinian Refugees. We see this possible through the following steps that constitute an interim stage: 1- Regarding Host Countries: Countries that host Palestinian Refugees should recognize the rights of Refugees as dictated by International law, and by article 2 of the EU association agreement for countries who signed this agreement. Such rights include the recognition of Palestinian NGOs in host countries and cooperating with them. 2- Regarding UNRWA: a- Countries that provide financial support to UNRWA should increase their contribution at least to allow UNRWA cover for the normal population growth and fullfill UNRWA's obligations espesially towards education, health and providing work services. b- UNRWA plays a priceless role in the daily life of refugees, a role too valuable to be threatened by the needed consensus for renewal of its 3-year mandate. This Agency should survive until a fair solution for refugees' problem is reached. c- UNRWA's mandate needs to be expanded to include providing protection for Refugees since those Refugees are succeptible to varying threats as those that were imposed by various Arab-Israeli Wars and Lebanese Civil War. d- UNRWA should solve the «N-R» and «non-ID» problems. The NR category is that of refugees who are recognized by UNRWA but donot benifit from its services, especially health services. It should also recognize the presence and solve the registration problem of around 15.000 Refugees who fall in the non-ID category. Those are registered by neither UNRWA nor Lebanese government. Consequently, they are ghosts who donot hold any form of official ID. 3- Regarding the policy of EU members: a- The Refugees problem should not be considered as another political outcome of the Middle East Conflict, whose solution awaits the political solution to this conflict. Refugees problem is primarily a Humanitarian one. It is that of Hundreds of thousands who are tired of being put on hold awaiting a political solution that might not come. The Humanitarian aspect should be tackled without further delay. b- EU should adopt a developemental policy towards the Refugees' communities inorder to avoid the destablization of the region. We see that this can be achieved by direct EU action and by supporting local bodies and NGOs in countries that host refugees to establish the following goals: i- Supporting programs aimed at establishing and strengthening democratic values and spreading the culture of Human Rights. ii- Providing legal aid to refugees inface of Host countries' descriminative laws. iii- Supporting programs of youth rehabilitation, women's activities, career orientation... |
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