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Final Report Directorate-General for External Policies Subcommittee on Human Rights SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS MISSION TO ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES 20 – 24 July 2015 Final report OVERVIEW OF THE VISIT The Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament authorised on 6 June 2015 the Subcommittee on Human Rights to send a mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories on the basis of a request by the Subcommittee's Enlarged Bureau. The objective of the mission was to hold discussions and to follow up on the human rights concerns expressed in Parliament's resolutions concerning Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. The mission was led by Mr Josef Weidenholzer (S&D, AU) and included Ms Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl (EPP, DE), Ms Therese Comodini Cachia (EPP, MT), Ms Kati Piri (S&D, NL) and Ms Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea (ALDE, ES). They were accompanied by political group advisers Gabriela Virostkova (EPP Secretariat), Brigitte Bataille (S&D Secretariat) and Itziar Munoa-Salaverria (ALDE Secretariat) as well as Jarmo Oikarinen (DROI secretariat) and Benjamin Rey (Policy Department). The meetings and site visits of the mission took place on 20-24 July in Israel and the West Bank. The mission also consulted the Israeli authorities regarding access to Gaza. Following a busy schedule, Members held a series of meetings with high profile Members of the Knesset and of the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Palestinian Chief Negotiator and Chair of the ICC follow-up committee, Israeli and Palestinian government officials and experts, lead representatives of the UN agencies, Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups, civil society organisations and representatives of religious minorities. During extensive field visits, the mission visited Bedouin villages and met their community leaders in Israel and in the West Bank. The visits included Abu Nuwar 1 and Susiya villages under the imminent threat of eviction. Members also visited an Israeli cooperative agricultural community at the Northern Gaza border, which suffered from Hamas rockets during the latest Gaza war, and the divided city of Hebron in the West Bank. The mission issued a press statement (ANNEX 1) at the end of its visit. EU Ambassador to Israel, Mr Faaborg-Andersen briefed the DROI mission at the start of the programme and participated in the key meetings in the Israeli part of the programme. Deputy Head of Delegation in the EU Representative's Office in Jerusalem, Mr Geer, hosted the Members for a reception and accompanied the mission in several meetings. The help of the two EU Delegations was crucial in the preparation and the carrying out of the programme. The EEAS and UNRWA briefed the DROI mission prior to the departure in the final preparatory meeting in Brussels. SUMMARIES OF MEETINGS Briefing by Ambassador Faaborg-Andersen Venue: King David Hotel The meeting allowed Ambassador Faaborg-Andersen to provide a briefing about the political situation in Israel, the Middle East peace process, and the EU approach to the key policy issues both generally and regarding specifically human rights. The Ambassador gave a brief overview of the breadth of the EU-Israel relationship and its evolution in recent years, including economic relations, visa-free travel, research cooperation and the "open skies" agreement. He then moved on to cover in more detail the current situation regarding Israeli-Palestinian relations, updating the Members on the current situation regarding the peace process and the Israeli settlements on the West Bank, as well as noting the impact of the agreement on Iran's nuclear programme. Among the specific human rights issues, the Ambassador elaborated in depth on the EU support to the human rights organisations in Israel, the recent proposals for a new NGO law, the situation of the minorities, refugees and irregular migrants, the concerns related to certain detention practices, and about the follow-up to the accountability issues related to the Gaza conflict of 2014. The discussion centered on the possible avenues to break the current impasse in the peace process, including the initiatives discussed among members of the UN Security Council. Issues linked to freedom of religion or belief, children's rights, and juveniles in Israeli detention were also raised. Working dinner with civil society organizations in the presence of EU Ambassador Lars Faaborg Andersen Venue: King David Hotel The DROI mission met with a broad selection of Israeli civil society organisations active on human rights issues. The meeting was attended also by the EU Ambassador, who noted that many of the organisations present had received or are currently receiving support by the European Union or its Member States. 2 The discussion began on the situation of civil society and the proposed new NGO law. Following earlier unsuccessful proposals to curtail foreign funding of civil society organisations, one of the current government parties has proposed a new NGO law in Knesset that would entail high new taxes on foreign donations to civil society organisations. This could have a significant impact on EU support to Israeli civil society organisations. The intensified public debate on civil society in Israel was reflected in the discussion, with several NGO representatives referring to intimidation. Several interlocutors noted that civil society organisations are already required to be very transparent about their funding sources and need to list their donors on their websites. NGOs are required to report government funding on a quarterly basis, and the funding source must be made public if a foreign government sponsors a specific NGO campaign. Regarding minority issues, representatives of Arab minority NGOs described their view of the situation, including a number of cases that have been brought to the Israeli Supreme Court. The relative share of allocations of the Israeli government budget that are used to develop predominantly Arab communities and to advance education and culture of the Arab minority was also discussed, as well as the situation of Bedouin communities in the Negev. Concerns were raised that the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the Bedouin (Umm al Hiran case) could mean that demolitions and relocations could become possible without underlying legislation. On the recent influx of asylum seekers into Israel, the civil society representatives noted that Israel had been a strong advocate of the UN Refugee Convention during its preparation and adoption in 1951. The previous and current government have introduced further restrictive measures to stop what the government considers as illegal infiltration through Sinai. Civil society representatives raised a number of concerns both regarding the current detention centre of migrants in Negev, and the methods used to persuade migrants to repatriate. The increasing use of migrant labour in low-paid jobs was also noted. While the current legislation addressed the potential abuse in the labour market, one of the NGOs was critical of the lack of effective enforcement of legal standards, especially regarding the minimum wage and minimum working conditions. On the human rights concerns in the Israeli-Palestinian context, several of the human rights organisations present at the meeting expressed the view that the EU could abide more closely to its principles and consequently do more to enhance respect of human rights and humanitarian norms. Among the issues linked to occupation policies were the effects of the settlement expansion and the separation barrier/wall to the residency and land use of Palestinians in the West Bank. The situation in Susiya, a Palestinian village under threat of eviction (pending a High Court of Justice hearing scheduled for 3 August), was specifically mentioned. (The DROI mission visited Susiya on Thursday 23 July. The village was also mentioned in the EU Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions on 20 July). The trends in settlement expansion, outpost construction, and settler violence were also reviewed. 3 Regarding detention practices there was acknowledgement that the Israeli authorities did grant access to prisons to the ICRC, and allowed for a complaints procedure. However, the number of actual investigations into alleged abuses was seen as low compared to the reported incidents. Discussion on the proposed force feeding legislation reflected the fierce public debate over different versions of a new law that would allow for force-feeding of security-prisoners. [Despite opposition from human rights organisations and prominent medical ethics experts in Israel, the law was approved by the Knesset on 30 July]. There was also a substantial discussion on the accountability for the alleged breaches of international norms during the Gaza conflict of 2014. Several of the NGOs considered that the internal Israeli investigations that had taken place so far were not thorough enough, and political decisions were by definition left outside the scope of the main investigation led by the Military Advocate General (MAG). According to the NGOs there had not been many convictions except for minor offenses, and there was scepticism regarding the ability of the current system of internal inquiry to act credibly, despite the reforms implemented after the so called Turkel commission. The Military Advocate General's dual role as the supervisor of the investigations into actions of Israel Defense Forces (IDF), while being also a member of the IDF General Staff (although not hierarchically subordinate to the Chief of Staff), was raised
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