UN panel to visit Middle East, survey human rights situation in occupied territories

A special panel of the United Nations General Assembly is set to head to the Middle East this weekend to interview witnesses and gather information about the human rights situation in the Palestinian occupied territories.

The group, known as the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, will visit Egypt, Jordan and Syria from 23 June to 6 July.

The Committee plans to hold hearings in Cairo between 24 and 27 June, in Amman from 29 June to 1 July, and in Damascus from 4 to 5 July. The information gathered during these hearings, from witnesses with first-hand and recent experience of the human rights situation in the occupied territories and from governmental representatives, is taken into account in the panel’s reports to the Assembly.

Information appearing in the Israeli press and the Arab press published in the occupied territories is also made available to the Committee, which formulates conclusions containing its evaluation of the situation as well as recommendations.

The Committee, which was established by the Assembly in December 1968, is composed of three Member States: Sri Lanka, which chairs the panel, Senegal and Malaysia.