On Palestine issue, HRC must hold ‘aggressor’ accountable thru int’l inquiry: FM

ISLAMABAD, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday urged the Human Rights Council – a top UN body, to ensure the realization of the fundamental rights of Palestinians and “hold the aggressor accountable through international inquiry”.

In his virtual address to the Special Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) on the ‘Grave Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem’, the foreign minister said the two-week aggression ignited violence and communal attacks against Palestinians, thus calling into question the tall claims of democracy and rule of law.

Emphasizing on ensuring Palestinians’ rights to life and self-determination, Qureshi said “condoning to violations only breeds arrogance and impunity”.

The foreign minister said Pakistan supported the Human Rights Council’s (HRC) deliberations and decisions in accordance with the merits of the human rights situation in Palestine and also urged upon the others to do likewise.

As the apex UN body, he said, HRC was mandated to guard human rights and human dignity and mentioned that today’s Special Session, requisitioned by 70 countries, was an exercise of this important mandate.

Qureshi said the people of Palestine had, once again, faced a relentless onslaught on their rights and dignity, in two weeks of brutal Israeli aggression.

He stressed that the violent repression compounded several aspects of the perpetual Palestinian tragedy in seven decades of illegal occupation.

In this regard, he mentioned the continuous killings of civilians and disproportionately affecting the vulnerable including women and children.

He pointed that continuing Israeli settlement activity was acting as a “driver and force multiplier of occupation and violence”.

Qureshi said the violence led to indiscriminate demolition of houses, hospitals, and schools causing innumerable hardships to the people. Also, the situation resulted in recurring forced displacements, making people refugees in their own land.

“False equivalence between the victim and the aggressor, on account of political expediency, is patently incorrect and morally reprehensible,” he said, adding that “This Council must act to rectify the wrong.”