Rights in Principle - Rights in Practice Revisiting the Role of International Law in Crafting Durable Solutions for Palestinian Refugees Terry Rempel, Editor BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights, Bethlehem RIGHTS IN PRINCIPLE - RIGHTS IN PRACTICE REVISITING THE ROLE OF InternatiONAL LAW IN CRAFTING DURABLE SOLUTIONS FOR PALESTINIAN REFUGEES Editor: Terry Rempel xiv 482 pages. 24 cm ISBN 978-9950-339-23-1 1- Palestinian Refugees 2– Palestinian Internally Displaced Persons 3- International Law 4– Land and Property Restitution 5- International Protection 6- Rights Based Approach 7- Peace Making 8- Public Participation HV640.5.P36R53 2009 Cover Photo: Snapshots from «Go and See Visits», South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Palestine (© BADIL) Copy edit: Venetia Rainey Design: BADIL Printing: Safad Advertising All rights reserved © BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights December 2009 P.O. Box 728 Bethlehem, Palestine Tel/Fax: +970 - 2 - 274 - 7346 Tel: +970 - 2 - 277 - 7086 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.badil.org iii CONTENTS Abbreviations ....................................................................................vii Contributors ......................................................................................ix Foreword ..........................................................................................xi Foreword .........................................................................................xiv Introduction ......................................................................................1 Part ONE The Role of International Law 1 The Role of International Law and Human Rights in Peacemaking and Crafting Durable Solutions for Refugees Lynn Welchman ..............................................19 2 Justice Against Perpetrators: the Role of Prosecution in Peacemaking and Reconciliation Alejandra Vicente ............................................47 3 Popular Sovereignty, Collective Rights, Participation and Crafting Durable Solutions for Palestinian Refugees Karma Nabulsi ..............................................71 Part TWO Housing, Land and Property Restitution 4 Israel’s Land Regime and the Iqrit Model Usama Halabi and Hussein Abu Hussein ..........91 5 The Right to Housing and Property Restitution in Bosnia and Herzegovina Paul Prettitore ...............................................115 6 Land Restitution in South Africa Monty Roodt ................................................155 iv Photo ESSAY “Go and See Visits”: Palestine/Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Africa and Cyprus .................................................187 Part THREE International Protection 7 Arab Protection of Palestinian Refugees: Investigation and Basis for Development Muhammad Khalid al-Az’ar ..........................211 8 UNRWA’s Role in Palestinian Refugee Protection Harish Parvathaneni ......................................241 9 A Plan for Temporary Protection and Durable Solutions Susan Akram and Terry Rempel .....................269 Part FOUR Putting Rights into Practice 10 The Nakba––Something That Did Not Occur (Although it Had to Occur) Eitan Bronstein .............................................315 11 Transitional Justice Models and their Applicability to the Zionist-Palestinian Conflict Jessica Nevo .................................................327 12 Public Participation in Peace Processes: Comparative Experience and Relevant Principles Celia McKeon ..............................................339 13 Do Israeli Rights Conflict with the Right of Return? Identifying the Possible Arguments Michael Kagan .............................................353 v Conclusion ..................................................................................................393 Epilogue .....................................................................................................439 Appendix One: Selected Rule of Law Tools ....................................................443 Appendix Two: List of Papers & Presentations ...............................................444 Appendix Three: List of Participants .............................................................447 Bibliography ...............................................................................................451 Index ..........................................................................................................479 vii Abbreviations ACHR American Convention on Human Rights AfCHPR African Convention on Human and People’s Rights CAT Convention Against Torture CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CERD Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CRPC Commission on Real Property Claims (Bosnia and Herzegovina) DLA Department of Land Affairs (South Africa) DoRA Department of Refugee Affairs of the PLO DPA Dayton Peace Agreement (Bosnia and Herzegovina) ECHR European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ECtHR European Court of Human Rights EU European Union GA General Assembly of the United Nations IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee ICC International Criminal Court ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights ICJ International Court of Justice ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ILA Israel Lands Administration (Lands Authority since 2009) JA Jewish Agency JNF Jewish National Fund LASC League of Arab States Council LCC Land Claims Court (South Africa) NGO Nongovernmental Organization OPT Occupied Palestinian Territories viii PLO Palestine Liberation Organization PNC Palestine National Council RAO Refugee Affairs Officer (UNRWA) Refugee Convention 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees Refugee Protocol 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees Road Map Performance-Based Road Map to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict SC Security Council (of the United Nations) TP Temporary Protection TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa) UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN United Nations UNCCP United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East US United States WZO World Zionist Organization ix Contributors Susan M. Akram Clinical Professor, School of Law, Boston University. Mohammed Khaled al-Az’ar Independent Researcher, Cairo. Eitan Bronstein Executive Director, Zochrot, Tel Aviv. Usama Halabi Legal Researcher and Attorney, Jerusalem. Hussein Abu Hussein Legal Researcher and Attorney, Umm al-Fahm. Michael Kagan Attorney and Senior Fellow, International Human Rights Program, American University, Cairo. Celia McKeon Accord Series Program Manager, Conciliation Resources, London. Karma Nabulsi Fellow in Politics, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University. Jessica Nevo Sociologist, Jerusalem. Paul Prettitore Legal Advisor, The World Bank, Jerusalem. x Terry Rempel Consultant, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Right. Monty Roodt Head of the Department of Sociology, Rhodes University, South Africa. Alejandra Vincente Assistant External Professor, Department of International Law, University of Zaragoza, Spain. Lynn Welchman Director, Center of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. xi Foreword This collection demonstrates the importance of a law-based approach to resolving the situation of the Arabs displaced from Palestine in 1948. The collection is the more important in light of the paucity of serious analysis of this issue from the standpoint of relevant international law principles. In any peace process, the legitimate expectations of the parties and other stakeholders should be at the forefront of consideration. If such expectations are ignored, a resulting peace may turn out to be ephemeral, because it may not be accepted by those whose rights have not been respected. For the displaced Arabs and their descendants, an expectation of being given an option to return to their homes is legitimate. Under international law, persons displaced from home areas who find themselves across an international border are entitled to return, if they so desire. Thus, in the Israel-Palestine peace process, a repatriation option is essential if legitimate expectations are to be respected. The rights of states of refuge also come into play when there has been a displacement of population. The states in which the displaced Palestine Arabs found refuge may be affected by what is resolved in an Israel–Palestine peace agreement. The states of refuge have a legitimate expectation that the displaced will be allowed to return. Just as any state is entitled to control immigration, these states of refuge are under no obligation to grant permanent residency to the displaced Palestine Arabs. A peace agreement that did not respect this legitimate expectation of the states of refuge would be of dubious validity. A basic precept of the international order is that a state must grant entry to its nationals, or to those entitled to its nationality. Israel sought to avoid that obligation through its nationality and citizenship laws which denied nationality to the Arabs displaced in 1948 and did not allow them to return. These Israeli