THIRTY years ago this month, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights expressed its great alarm at "the continuation of the violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by Israel in the occupied Arab territories".   The Commission considered many of these violations war crimes and an "affront to humanity"  and called upon Israel to immediately comply with its obligations under international law. Since that time these same human rights violations, and others, have repeatedly been committed, due in no small part to the fact that the Israeli authorities have been allowed to act in disregard of their duties under international law and with near total impunity for the past 35 years. 

Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967 and is thus bound, as an Occupying Power, by the laws of occupation as set out in the 1907 Hague Regulations and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.  These laws establish safeguards for the rights of a population under military occupation, while also recognising the legitimate security concerns of the occupant.  Israel has, since the beginning of the occupation and to the present day, refused to recognise the full de jure application of the Fourth Geneva Convention, despite having signed and ratified this instrument.  

Israel is also duty-bound to respect those norms of international human rights law set out in the various treaties to which it is a party.  The United Nations Human Rights Committee has made it clear that actions taken by Israel in the Occupied Territories must be in accordance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  Israel is also party to several other human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Convention Against Torture. 

Despite these clear international legal obligations, many of the actions taken by Israel have shown a disdain for the human rights of the Palestinians under their control. The following are a number of human rights violations which been committed repeatedly since the beginning of the occupation.

The Commission, in its resolution of 23 March 1972, noted its grave concern at "the destruction and demolition of villages, quarters and houses" by the Israeli authorities in the Occupied Territories.  House demolitions have been carried out extensively during the first and second intifadas as a form of punishment for the actual or suspected commission of illegal acts by Palestinians.  These constitute a violation of property rights and a form of collective punishment expressly prohibited by the laws of occupation. 

In August 2002, the Supreme Court of Israel effectively removed the right to judicial review of demolition orders issued by the Israeli military. Since that time over two hundred homes have been completely demolished in the West Bank and Gaza as punitive measures. In recent years hundreds of houses have also been demolished on the basis that they were not built in accordance with the Israeli authorities' housing permit 'policy'.   It is estimated that presently there are several thousand houses in East Jerusalem alone that are threatened with demolition on this basis.  

In 1972, the Commission on Human Rights expressed its deep concern at Israel's use of administrative and incommunicado detention. Since that time, and most notoriously during the first intifada, thousands of Palestinians have been interned without trial.  There have been numerous reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees at the hands of the Israeli authorities. A respected Israeli non-governmental organisation, B'tselem, has reported that at the beginning of 2003 there were over 1,000 Palestinians being held in administrative detention by the Israeli authorities.   This is the highest number of persons to be detained without charge or trial since the height of the first intifada in 1991.

Thirty years ago this Commission said that it was "gravely concerned with all acts and policies that affect the status or the character of those occupied territories and the basic rights of the inhabitants thereof…"   It noted specifically the 'declared intention' of Israel to annex parts of those territories and concluded that all actions taken to do so are null and void.   In recent times Israel has once again pursued its annexation policy through the construction of a 'security wall' around the West Bank.  Built for the purpose of increased security from Palestinian attacks against Israel, the construction of this wall has seen the confiscation and destruction of tens of thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land and the complete encirclement of West Bank towns such as Qalqilyah. 

The Special Rapporteur, Mr. John Dugard, has stated that the wall is being used "as a way of expanding Israel's territory" and as such, it represents a 'de-facto annexation' of Palestinian lands in violation of international law.   The current plans for this permanent wall involve the annexation of approximately 7 percent of West Bank lands to Israel.  In 1973, the Commission viewed Israel's "deliberate policy of annexation" as being contrary to the Charter of the United Nation and called upon it to desist in those actions.

In the immediate aftermath of a double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in January 2003 which killed twenty-two civilians, Israel's Security Cabinet decided that part of its response would involve the closure of a number of Palestinian universities. On 14 January the army issued a military order for the closure of Hebron University on the grounds that "opening the institution may result in a threat to the region, and to the security of the defense army, and of the general public". The initial two-week closure order for the University was extended until July, thus denying some four thousand students their right to receive education.  The closure of educational institutions has been a common practice by the Israeli authorities since 1967, one which has been condemned by the United Nations General Assembly.

Now, in 2003, the situation in the Occupied Territories is worsening by the day.  Fears abound of a 're-occupation' of the Gaza Strip, in ways similar to those actions taken in the West Bank under 'Operation Defensive Shield' in April and May 2002. The media has often failed to accurately portray the hardship of daily life in the Occupied Territories which has provoked these deplorable and desperate actions. Extensive and prolonged curfews and the closure of cities, towns and villages have made everyday life in the Occupied Territories an ordeal.  The rights to education, work, medical care and dignity are infringed upon on a daily basis. 

Israel has yet to be held responsible for these violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.  The confiscation of land, the house demolitions, the excessive use of force leading to 'collateral damage', the expansion of illegal settlements and the humiliation and mistreatment of an entire population have all been allowed to go unaddressed. The laws of occupation protect the rights of an occupied population, both for their benefit and in the interests of the occupying power.

The existing laws of war clearly circumscribe the powers of any occupying force. Israel would clearly benefit from reflecting that adherence to international norms of behaviour will, in the very least, help drain one swamp of Palestinian resentment. The Palestinians need to unconditionally reject acts of terrorism, legitimised in some circles as justified violence by the victim.

Shane Darcy is with the Irish Centre for Human Rights and is currently based in the Occupied Territories