BRIEFING NOTES: (1) Israel/OPT; (2) Sri Lanka; (3) Kyrgyzstan (4) ICC

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Ravina Shamdasani

Location: Geneva

Date: 13 October 2023

Subject: (1) Israel/OPT

(2) Sri Lanka

(3) Kyrgyzstan

(4) ICC

(1) Israel/OPT

We continue to follow, with deepening horror, the desperate situation for civilians in Gaza and in Israel.

As we have stressed, civilians must never be used as bargaining chips. Yet, we continue to receive heartbreaking messages of helplessness from people in Gaza, who are moving from house to house, terrified, seeking elusive safety. And civilians continue to be held hostage by Palestinian armed groups – in clear violation of international humanitarian law. We call, again, for their humane treatment and their immediate and unconditional release.

More than 2,700 people, including civilians, have already been killed in both Israel and Gaza. We urge Palestinian armed groups to halt the use of inherently indiscriminate projectiles, which violate international humanitarian law, as well as attacks directed against civilians. And we urge Israel to ensure full respect for international humanitarian and human rights law in any and all military operations. Air strikes and artillery strikes have already led to the destruction of large parts of densely populated neighbourhoods in Gaza, and rhetoric from high-level officials raises concerns that a message is being sent to the members of the Israeli Defense Forces that international humanitarian law has become optional rather than compulsory. It is absolutely crucial that Israeli leaders make it unambiguously clear that military operations must be conducted in full compliance with international law.

Israeli authorities announced a few hour ago that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza. This order is affecting more than a million Palestinians, including children, older and sick people, forcing them to relocate with little or no transport and with scant guarantees for their safety, amidst continuing hostilities. We echo the Secretary-General’s Spokesperson’s call for this to be rescinded, avoiding a calamitous situation.

International humanitarian law grants special protection for specifically protected persons and objects, including medical personnel, medical units, medical transport, humanitarian relief personnel and objects, as well as cultural property. The parties to the conflict must respect and protect them in all circumstances.

The “complete siege” announced by Israel is already leading to a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with estimates that more than 250,000 people in Gaza have already been displaced, the only power station ceasing to operate and a serious shortage of water. No fuel, food, water or medical supplies are being allowed in, placing the entire population of Gaza at risk. Such collective punishment of civilians is strictly prohibited by international law.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urges all States to insist upon and assist the parties to the conflict in immediately implementing a humanitarian corridor to ensure safe and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid. We should not look back and regret that we did not do everything in our power to avoid a disaster.

In many countries around the world, there has also been a proliferation of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate speech. The High Commissioner deeply deplores this. We call on political and other leaders to speak out, unequivocally, against such speech, and to take clear measures to stem any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. This is a time for the international community to come together in solidarity, advocating for the protection of all civilians, no matter where, no matter what.

As the High Commissioner stressed this week in the UN General Assembly, it is of the utmost importance that an urgent solution is found to the 56-year-old conflict. We are at the disposal of both Israelis and Palestinians to do what we can to help the region break from this vicious cycle of bloodshed, hatred and polarization. The violence must stop.

(2) Sri Lanka

We have serious concerns over two bills under consideration in the Sri Lankan Parliament - the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill and the Online Safety Bill - which give the authorities a range of expansive powers and can impose restrictions on human rights, not in line with international human rights law.

The Anti-Terrorism Bill is intended to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has long been of concern to the UN human rights mechanisms. While some positive revisions have been made in the draft, including the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, there are still major concerns about the scope and discriminatory effects of many provisions in the revised draft. Restrictions to the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are very likely to fail to meet requirements of necessity and proportionality.

The Bill still includes an overly broad definition of terrorism and grants wide powers to the police - and to the military - to stop, question and search, and to arrest and detain people, with inadequate judicial oversight. Other issues remain over the imposition of curfews, restriction orders and the designation of prohibited places, all of which raise concerns about the scope of powers granted to the executive without sufficient checks and balances.

With respect to the Online Safety Bill, we believe it will severely regulate and restrict online communication, including by the general public and will give authorities unfettered discretion to label and restrict expressions they disagree with as “false statements”.

Many sections of the Bill contain vaguely-defined terms and definitions of offences which leave significant room for arbitrary and subjective interpretation, and could potentially criminalize nearly all forms of legitimate expression, creating an environment that has a chilling effect on freedom of expression.

The UN Human Rights Office urges the Government to undertake further meaningful consultation with civil society and UN independent experts and to make substantial revisions of the draft laws in order to bring them into full compliance with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations.

(3) Kyrgyzstan

We have serious concerns over a proposed law before Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament that will impact the work of numerous civil society organizations and would risk violating fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association.

The draft “Foreign Representatives” bill provides for criminal liability and jail sentences of up to 10 years for actively participating or supporting a non-commercial organization whose work is considered to “incite citizens to refuse to fulfill their civic duties or commit other unlawful acts.” This offence is ill-defined, broad and open to subjective interpretation. It may result in the selective prosecution of legitimate human rights advocacy.

The proposed law also grants the Ministry of Justice broad powers to conduct unannounced inspections of premises, check activities and to seize documentation. It also requires non-commercial organizations involved in what are termed “political activities” and which receive funding or other property from foreign sources to register as “foreign representatives”. Failure to do so can lead to suspension of their operations for up to six months, without a court order.

We call upon the Kyrgyz Parliament to reject the draft law.

(4) ICC

We are deeply concerned by recent arrest warrants against senior judges of the International Criminal Court by the Russian Federation, following earlier warrants against the Court’s Prosecutor and Pre-trial Judges involved in the Ukraine situation. We share the concerns expressed on Tuesday by the Presidency of the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties that these actions are unacceptable, and we call for them to be promptly withdrawn.

The ICC is a tribunal of last resort mandated to ensure justice and accountability for the gravest crimes of concern to the international community. It is a cornerstone of the rule of law and complements the work of national courts in the fight against impunity. It is therefore crucial that it, and its officials, can perform their vital functions under the Rome Statute, unhindered by pressure, interference, or intimidation - from any quarter.

© Scoop Media