Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine.

1983/2. Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine[1]11

The Commission on Human Rights, Having examined the situation in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, Recalling its Resolution 1982/2 of 11 February 1982, Taking note of the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories,[2]12 Gravely alarmed by Israel behaviour in systematically ignoring all relevant resolutions of the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Commission on Human Rights and other organs of the United Nations concerning the Arab territories occupied by Israel and its persistent violations of human rights in those territories, Reaffirming that the acquisition of territories by force is inadmissible under the Charter of the United Nations, the principles of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, Recalling General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974, in which the Assembly defined an act of aggression, inter alia, as "the invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof" and provided that "no consideration of whatever nature, whether political, economic, military or otherwise, may serve as a justification for aggression", Recalling Security Council resolution 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 and General Assembly resolutions 36/226 B of 17 December 1981, ES-9/1 of 5 February 1982 and 37/123 A of 16 December 1982, Reaffirming once more the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 to the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, including the occupied Syrian Golan heights, Gravely alarmed by the inhuman treatment imposed by the occupying Israeli authorities on the Syrian population of the Golan Heights and noting that "The continued protests [by the Syrian population] led to a wave of arrests, dismissals and a rupture in communications and, on 25 February 1982, a blockade was imposed on the villages ... the population was even prevented from obtaining medical aid outside the area"[3]13

1. Resolutely condemns Israel for its failure to comply with Security Council resolution 497 (181) and General Assembly resolutions 36/226 B, ES-9/1 and 37/123 A;

2. Declares once more that Israel's decision of 14 December 1581 to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights constitutes an act of aggression under the provisions of Article 39 of the Charter of the United Nations and General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX);

3. Declares once more that Israel's decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and has no legal validity and/or effect;

4. Reaffirms its determination that all provisions of the Hague Convention of 1907 and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949[4]14 continue to apply to the Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, and calls upon parties thereto to respect their obligations under these instruments in all circumstances;

5. Determines once more that continued occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights since 1961 and its effective annexation by Israel on 14 December 1981, as well as the inhuman treatment of the Syrian population, constitute a grave violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention and the relevant United Nations resolutions;

6. Strongly deplores the negative vote of a permanent members of the Security Council which prevented the Council from adopting against Israel, under chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the "appropriate measures" referred to in resolution 497 (1981), adopted unanimously by the Security Council;

7. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to rescind forthwith its decision of 14 December 1981 to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Syrian Golan Heights, and firmly emphasizes the overriding necessity of the total and unconditional withdrawal by Israel from all Palestinian and Syrian territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, which is an essential prerequisite for the establishment of a comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East;

8. Decides to place on the provisional agenda of its fortieth session as a matter of high priority the item entitled "Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine".

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[1]11 Adopted at the 22nd meeting, on 15 February 1983, by a roll-call vote of 27 to 2, with 13 abstentions. See chap. II. [2]12 A/37/485. [3]13 Ibid., para. 43. [4]14 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 287.