Pakistan welcomes the adoption of an Organisation of Islamic Conference led resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council in response to “grave violations of international law and human rights” by Israel in Palestine, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Friday.
Referring to a special UNHRC session held the previous day, the statement said the UN rights body and its decision to establish a standing international commission to investigate human rights violations represented global resolve to end systemic impunity and injustice and begin a process of meaningful accountability.
“Pakistan stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and shares the international community’s expectation for effective implementation of this resolution to ensure respect for international law as well as for rights and dignity of the people of Palestine,” the statement read.
Quoting Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the statement further said that he welcomed the adoption of the resolution for the formation of an independent commission for probe into Israel’s aggression against Palestine.
It added that the foreign minister lauded the efforts of Pakistani missions in Geneva and New York to highlight the Palestine issue.
Pakistan, on behalf of the OIC, had requested the UNHRC on May 19 to call a special session in view of Israel’s atrocities in Palestine. Subsequently, the session was held on Thursday, where the resolution was adopted.
The resolution, which passed with 24 of the council’s 47 members in favour, would spur an unprecedented level of scrutiny on abuses and their “root causes” in the decades-long Middle East dispute between Israel and Palestine.
It sought the launching of an investigation into violations surrounding the latest episode of violence and “systematic” abuses spurring a repetitive cycle of violence over the decades.
The text of the resolution, which was presented by Pakistan on the OIC’s behalf, said the investigators should probe “underlying root causes of recurrent tensions and instability, including systematic discrimination and repression based on group identity”.
The investigation should focus on establishing facts and gather evidence for legal proceedings, and should aim to identify perpetrators to ensure they are held accountable, it said.
It also urged countries to “refrain from transferring arms when they assess… that there is a clear risk that such arms might be used in the commission or facilitation of serious violations or abuses”.
Opening the session, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet voiced particular concern about the “high level of civilian fatalities and injuries” from the attacks on Gaza and warned that Israeli attacks on the enclave “may constitute war crimes”.
She also said Hamas’ “indiscriminate” firing of rockets at Israel was “a clear violation of international humanitarian law”.
Before the vote, Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, slammed the session and the resolution, insisting that they were yet another example of the council’s bias against Israel.
The resolution, she insisted, “has nothing to do with reality, has nothing to do with human rights”. She urged countries not to back the resolution, which she said would “embolden and reward Hamas….”.
Besides, Bachelet said her office had “not seen evidence” that the buildings targeted in Gaza, including medical facilities and media offices, were “hosting armed groups or being used for military purposes”.
The Palestinian foreign minister, meanwhile, accused Israel of instituting “an apartheid system”.
“The right to self defence and the right to resist occupation is a right we have as the Palestinian people,” he said.
A day earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and United Nations General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir on Thursday held a meeting and discussed matters of international and regional importance, including Palestine.
The FM welcomed the UNGA president at the ministry of foreign affairs, who had arrived in the capital on Wednesday on a three-day visit.
Qureshi appreciated the efforts of the UNGA president to convene an emergency session of the UNGA on Palestine.
He said that the ceasefire was the first step towards stopping the Israeli atrocities, however, added the only just solution to resolve the issues of Palestinian was the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions.
Qureshi said that establishing peace in the Middle East without resolving the Palestinian issue on a permanent basis was not possible.
The UNGA president also visited the National Defence University and gave a speech on the importance of multilateralism during a joint press conference with FM Qureshi.
Speaking at the university in Islamabad, the FM said, “There are similarities between the Palestinian situation and that of Jammu and Kashmir”.
“The fire can be extinguished through dialogue and a two-state solution in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.”
FM Qureshi maintained that timely humanitarian assistance should also be provided to the Palestinians affected by Israeli aggression.
Bozkir shed light on various issues, including Palestine, the Kashmir Issue, and the coronavirus pandemic.
“Inaction on the issue of Palestine, which is a grave matter, is damaging the credibility of the United Nations and the Security Council,” Bozkir said, adding that it is hoped that the Security Council will also hear a unanimous vote on this important and necessary issue.
“Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in blatant human rights abuses,” Bozkir said. “Negotiations are urgently needed to establish two independent states. The UNGA will not sit idly until peace is restored in the Middle East,” he said.
