Kawther Salam: Continuous Violations of Human Rights in Palestine

The fourth annual report released Monday March 19 by the UNHR has criticized the involvement of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the de-facto authorities in the Gaza Strip of human rights violations and abuses. The report focused on and exposed the Israeli practices against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The report covers the period from December 1 2010 until November 15 2011. The fourth annual report of the Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories: The number of cases documented by UNHCR indicate that the IDF most often uses live ammunition against unarmed Palestinians. Khawla Mattar, director of the United Nations Information Center in Cairo said during a press conference: "The Israeli Settlers who continuously violate the rights of Palestinians are tried before civilian courts in Israel, while they settle in the Palestinian occupied territories, but the Palestinians are tried before military tribunals for simply protecting their rights. This is a clear violation of Human Rights. It even violates the law in Israel itself." Read part of the report which talks about the violations of the Palestinian Rights quoted below. The full report can be read online at the UN website link. 19 March 2012: The Human Rights Council this morning opened its general debate on the human rights situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories after hearing High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay present the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the topic: Ms Pillay said the human rights challenges in the occupied Palestinian territory were intrinsically linked to the continuing expansion of Israeli settlements, including violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.