UNITED NATTOT{S Generat Assembty Distr. (@ GENERAI, A/44/599 12 October 1989 ORIGINAL3 ENGLISH Forty-fourCh session Agenda iten 77 REPORT OF TIIE SPECIAL COMMITTBE TO INVESIIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING THE HIJMAN RIGITTS OF TIIE POPULATION OF TEE OCCUPIED TERRITORISS Note by the Secretarv-Geueral The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the GeneraL Assenbl'y the twenty-first report of the special cornnittee to rnve6tigate rsraeti Practices Af,fecting the Hunan Rights of the popuratioa of the occupiea rerritories, which was subtnitted to him in accordance with paragraphs 19 and 20 of Assembly resolution 43,/58 A of 6 Decenber 1989. This report should be considered together r{ith tbe Special Committee's periodic tepotE (A/44/352), which was tralsmitted to the nenbers of the Assenbly on 1.3 JuIy L989. 89-242t9 1.2 68-6 9 j (E) A/ 44/ 599 Inglish CONTENTS Paragraphs Paqe LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL ..... ........ 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1-4 7 II. ORGANIZATION OF WORK 5 - 21 7 III. MANDATE 22-26 10 IV. INFORMATION AND EVIDENCE RECEIVED BY THE SPECIAL COIIMITTEE 27 - 324 12 A. General s ituation 1. General developrnents and policy statenents 33 - 51 13 2. Incident.s linked with the upri.sing of the Palestinian popufation against the occupation .... 52 - '17 11 Administration of justice, including the right to 78 120 53 1. Palestiaian popufation 78 111 53 2. Israefis 112 120 61 Treatment of civi li ans I2L 275 64 L Geleral developtnents L2I 2 00 64 (a) Harassment anal physicaL il.l-treatnenE t2L r44 64 (b) Col.lective punj.shment 145 L79 70 (c) Expul s i ons 180 191 (d) Econornic and social- situation )-9 2 200 BI 2. Measures affecting certain fundamental freedoms ... 20r 251 85 (a) Preedom of movement 201 211 85 (b) Freedom of refigion 212 220 a7 (c) Freedom of expression 221 88 (d) Freedom of association .... , 234 235 90 (e) Freedom of education 251 91 A/ 44 / 599 Engl i sh Page 3 CONTENTS ( continued ) Paragraphs Paqe 3. Infornation on settlers, activities affecting the civilian population 252 - 275 95 D. Treatment of detainees 276 - 305 99 E. Annexation and settlemenEs ,.,. 306 - 318 105 F. Infornation concerning the occupied Syrian Arab Golan , 3L9 - 324 108 V. CONCLUSIONS 325 - 341 110 vI. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT 116 Annex . MAP SHOWTNG ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS ESTABLIS}IED. PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN THE TERRITORIES OCCUPIED SINCE 1967 .. 118 A/ 44/ 599 English LETTER OF ARANSMITTAL 25 Auqust 1989 Sir. The Special conrnittee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Populabion of the Occupied Terlit.ories has the honour !o transnit to you herewith its twenty-first report, prepared in accordance with General Assembly resolutions concerning the Speciat Cornmittee and, in particular, resolution 2443 (xxIII) of 19 Decenber 1968, by which the Special Committee was established, and resolution 43/58 A of 6 December 1988, the latest resolution by which the Generaf Assembly renelred its mandate. This reporL covers the period from 26 August 1988, the date of the adoption of the teentieth report of the Special Corunittee, to 25 August 1989. The rePort is based on oral information received by the Special Conunittee through testimonies of persons having first-hand experience of the hwnan rights situation in the occupied territories. as welL as written information gathered frorn various sources. Written information concerning the period from 26 August 1988 to 31 March 1989 is reflected i4 the periodic report r.rhich the Special CorEnittee presented to you oD 7 June 198q (A/44/352) in accordance with paragraphs 19 and 20 of General Assenbly resolucion 43/58 A. From among these oral and writt.en sources of information, che Special conmittee has included in its reports relevant excerpts and sununaries' For the purpose of collecting oral testinonies the Special Comnittee again organized hearings ttrat were held in Damascus. Amman and Cairo, The Special Connittee continued to tnonitor staternents by menbers of the Government of Israel refl.ecting the policy of that Government in the occupied territorie6 and rePorts on measures taken to impLement that policy, The Special Corunittee further not.ed the letters addressed to you and to lhe President of the Security Council during the Period of this report reLating to the nandate of the Special Cornmittee, circulated as documents of the General Assembly and the Security Council, and received inforrnation frorn organizations and individuals otr various aspecLs of the situation in the occupied territories. In carrying out its mandate, the Special Conmittee benefited fron the co*operation of the Governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic and from the co-operation of Palest.inian representatives, The Government of IsraeI has conLinued to ignore requests for co-operation addressed to it. His Excellency Mr. Javier P6rez de Cu6tlar Se c re tary-Ceneral of the United Nations New York a/ 44/ 599 English Page 5 In preparing its report the Special Corunittee has attenpted to puE before you a composite piceure of the reality in the occupied territories as it affect,s the human rights of the civilian popuLation. By this Letter the SpeciaL Cornrnittee wi.shes to draw your attentj.on to a nunber of aspects thaE deserve particular nention. The infornation contained in the present report reflects the further deterioration, as a result of 20 months of continuous violence and unrest in the occupied ter!itories, of an already grave hunan rights situation. The uprising of the Palestinian population against occupat.ion, motivated by an accumulation of harassnent, hufiiliation and frustraEion, stens fron the annexation policy inpLementetl by the Goverrunent of Israel since 1967, lrhich has broughC along an unprecedented leveL of viol.ence and unrest in the telritories. The period under considelation has been marked by a further increase in the frequency aud intensity of daily incidents, provoking the death of hundreds of civilians of alf ages caused by gun-fire, beating, electrocuLion, burning, gas inhalation or other causes. Sevelal thousand palestinians, including very young children, women and o1d people, trave been injured in clashes that have occurred practically every day and in several locatities, nostly in the context of widespread demonstrations, stone-throwing and the throwing of petrol botnbs, transport and commercial strikes. and raids by security forces in order to carry out scores of arrests, collect taxes, renove Palestinian flags and impose curfews or seal off eutire areas, sonetimes for prolonged periods. fsraeli settlers have taken an increasingly active part in this scheme of repression by creating vigilante interveneion forces and waging raids of "retaliation and iDtinidation" against Palest.inian villages. Other serious infringements of fundanental rights and freedona have included a noticeable increase in the deportations of Pa.lestinians from Che occupied territories, which have taken place repeat.eilly in violation of relevant provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, severe lirnitations inposed on the fleedom of expression, of association and of worship and the prolonged closure of educational instit.utions. The miLitary justice system in force in the occupied territories bas further deteriorated. It neither provides detained Palestinians with adequate legal guarantees lror ensures the right to a fair erial, Severaf thousands of arrested Palestinians, among then minors antl women, continue to be ifiprisoned, often in profonged adninistrative detention in the occupied territories, or even inside Israel itself, they are denied humane prison conditionsi their situation is aggravated by the great increase in the nurnber of detainees, and they endure serious physical and psychological hardships often resulting in riots and hunger strikes that are severely repressed. The Special Conmittee has endeavoured, withir the constraints anil self-restrictions imposed by the financial. situation of the United Nations, to provide in its perioalic report (A/44/352, ard the present twenty-first report a faithful picture of the situation of hwnan rights in the occupied territories. A/ 44/ 599 English Page 6 In vielt of the grave circumstances prevailing in the occupieal territ.ories. the Special Comrnittee is croncerned that the internalionaf community has thus far not been able to adopt effective neasules Eo protect the human rights of the civilian Population, It reiterates its sincere hope that the present report may contribute to further mobilizing the international communiEy in Ehe search of a sofution that wouLd all.eviate the PLight of the civilians in the occupied territories and secure the full enjo]'rnent of their rights and fleedorns. Accept, Sir, on behalf of rny colfeagues and ou ny own behalf, the assurances of our highest consideration. Daya R, PERERA Chairnan of the Special Conmittee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting ttre Human Rights of the Popufation of the OccuDied Territories A/ 44 / 599 English Page 7 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The SpeciaL Corunittee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affectiug the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories was established by the General Assenbly in resoLution 2443 (XXIlI) of 19 Decenber 1968. By that resolution, the Assenbly decided to establish the Special Comrnitt.ee, composed of three Mernber States; requested the President of the Assenbty to appoint the nembers of the Special Cornmittee i requested the Governrnent of Israel to receive the Special Committee, to co-operate with it aud to facilitate its worki requested the Special Cornnittee to report to the Sec retary-General as soon as possible and whenever lhe need arose thereafter; and lequested the Secre tary-Gener aL to provide the Special Cornmittee with all the necessary facilities for the performance of its task. 2- The Special Cofiunittee is composed as foflowsi Mr. Daya R. Perela, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, Chairrnani Mr, Alioune Sene, Ambassador of Senegal in Bern and Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations Office at Genevai and Mr.