GICJ Written Statements submitted to the 33rd Session of the Human Rights Council

The participation of Geneva International Centre for Justice at the 33rd. session of the Human Rights Council included the submission of several written statements on various human rights issues, including the human rights violations in Iraq, Palestine and Yemen, as well as the current counterproductive approach of combating terrorism and the rise of racism against migrants.

Agenda item 3 - Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.

- Al-Ahwaz an ongoing Tragedy

Since the annexation of Al-Ahwaz by Iran in 1925, the area has seen the worst violations against its citizens who are culturally and ethnically Arabs. The Arab population has been subjected to abuse and discrimination, in the form of arbitrary detention and racial discrimination in the job market and civil societies such as university acceptances. A clear indicator of this disastrous situation is the literacy rate where 80% of Arab women and around 50% of Arab men are illiterate. 

- Iraq: New Laws Contradicting Basic Principles of Human Rights.

In the immediate aftermath of the three terrorist attacks carried out in different districts of Bagdad on 3rd July 2016, leaving more than 300 people killed and over 246 injured, the Iraqi Prime Minister ordered the Ministry of Justice to take the appropriate measures in order to expedite the implementation of the death penalty of inmates convicted of terrorism . The same day, on 4th July 2016, the Minister of Justice issued a statement declaring that five prisoners had been executed, in an apparent act of retaliation. He also stated that his office was taking measures to speed up the implementation of death sentences by shortening to 30 days the time the President has ratified a death sentence.

- Grave Violations by Houthi Militias and Other Armed Groups in Yemen.

Chaos has taken over Yemen since the fall of the government in 2011. The situation has particularly degenerated when Houthi and other armed groups affiliated to the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh have taken over the power in the capital of Sana’a on 21st September 2014. Since  they  gained  control  over  large  districts  of  Yemen,  these  groups  have  been  systemically  using  abduction  and enforced disappearances as means against their opponents.

- Assessing Fifteen Years of the War on Terror.

The war on terror has for the vast majority of those affected by it been an utter and complete failure.  International military campaigns have invaded, occupied, and left several countries in political turmoil, hundreds of thousands of civilians have died, millions have been displaced and human rights violations the world over have soared. At the same time, terrorist groups and their activities the very elements the war on terror set out to subvert have flourished.

Agenda item 4 - Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention.

- The Chilcot Report: another list of unpunished wrongdoings!

The  mandate  of  the  Chilcot  Committee  was  twofold.  The  investigation first focused  on  the  decision-making  process which  led  to  the  decision  to  go  to  war.  The  report  critically  analysed  the  evidence  UK  had  at  this  time  and  how  the British  Government  then  decided  to  join  the  USA  in  the  invasion  and  occupation  of  Iraq.  The  second  part  of  the investigation dealt with the role played by the United Kingdom during the subsequent military action on the ground and its aftermath. The Committee then examined the British armed forces’ conduct during and after the invasion.

Agenda item 7 - Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.

- Palestine: The Lost Homeland

For over half a century, Palestinians have been tirelessly waiting for somewhere to call “homeland” again. Who is going to be there to preserve their culture, their traditions, their lands, if generations after generations are forced to live in overcrowded IDP camps, in decadent tents showing a dusty UNHCR logo almost there as a mockery to remind them of the vain presence of a UN which is not truly there.

- Palestine: Israeli Collective Punishment against Palestinians Constitutes a War Crime.

For  decades,  the  occupied  Palestinian  people  have  suffered  from  grave  human  rights  violations  due  to  Israel’s oppressive and unjust practices. Among the  unfair acts against the  occupied population is the  ongoing Israeli policy of collective  punishment,  through the demolitions of the family houses of those accused or suspected of carrying out attacks against Israelis. This practice results in the total devastation of completely innocent families, who have nothing to do with the alleged attacks. 

Agenda item 9 - Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

- The Rising Tide of Racism against Migrant

2016 marks the fifteenth year of the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action, which was conceived  as  a  new  framework  to  combat racism,  racial  discrimination,  xenophobia  and  related  intolerance  for generations to come. Today however, safeguarding those higher aspirations for tolerance, diversity and harmonious co-existence in the international community might seem to be a rather utopian ideal for some people. Instead, ideas based on racial superiority or hatred are rapidly gaining consensus, especially following the growing fear of terrorism and the latest waves of mass migration.