Adalah’s response to the report of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry: “Decades of extreme violations of Palestinian human rights, and total impunity for war crimes committed by Israel necessitate an immediate international response”

Today (20 October, 2022) The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel (COI-OPTI), issued its first report to the UN General Assembly. The COI called upon the General Assembly to request an urgent Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of Israel’s continued refusal to end its occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The COI also recommended that the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court prioritize the investigation into the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

 

CLICK HERE to read the report 

 

CLICK HERE to read the commission’s press release 

 


Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, stated in response:

 

 “Adalah welcomes the inevitable and vital conclusions of the independent Commission of Inquiry, that urgent action by international bodies is imperative in order to address the permanent nature of Israel’s occupation and its de-facto annexation policies. As Adalah has repeatedly asserted in the past, the report reaffirms that Israel’s unlawful policies must be met with immediate international legal intervention. The commission duly noted that similar practices of domination and oppression against Palestinians in the 1967 Occupied Territory are used against Palestinian citizens of Israel. Adalah embraces the historical perspective provided by the commission by acknowledging that Israel has been enforcing military rule on Palestinians since its establishment in 1948. Decades of extreme violations of Palestinian human rights, and total impunity for war crimes committed by Israel necessitate an immediate international response. We hope that the report will be adopted by the UN General Assembly and that it will lead to a swift response by the International Court of Justice and by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court."