UN committee urges states, entities not to contribute to violations of Palestinian human rights

A UN committee on the rights of the Palestinians underscored in its report the international responsibility not to contribute to violations of Palestinian human rights, its rapporteur said Tuesday.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People “underscores the responsibility of states and private entities not to contribute to violations of Palestinian human rights, in particular with respect to settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem,” said Adela Raz, rapporteur of the committee.

Presenting the report to the United Nations General Assembly, Raz said the committee deems unilateral decisions by UN member states to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of embassies in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as null and void.

“It calls upon the member states to rescind those decisions and respect the historic status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem, and to preserve the legal, demographic and historical multi-cultural and multi-religious status of the city,” she said.