REFUGEE RIGHTS are HUMAN RIGHTS

REFUGEE RIGHTS are HUMAN RIGHTS

International Human Rights Day - 54th
Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights


December 10 marks the annual commemoration of
International Human Rights Day and the 54th
anniversary of the signing of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Among those basic
rights enshrined in international human rights
law is the right of return and the right to
property. The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights was adopted one day prior to UN General
Assembly Resolution 194(III), affirming the
right of Palestinian refugees to return and
repossess their homes and properties.

More than 50 years after the adoption of these
instruments, however, Israel continues to refuse
to comply with the right of return and right to
property as set forth in international human
rights law and affirmed in Resolution 194. Today
some 6 million Palestinian refugees and
displaced persons are prevented from exercising
their basic human right to return to their
places of origin. Palestinian refugees and
displaced persons have also been arbitrarily
deprived of an estimated 21,500 sq. km of land
(includes expropriation and military control of
land), and more than 200,000 homes, including
some 73,000 not destroyed during the 1948 war,
as well as offices, workshops, and shops.

Israel refuses to allow Palestinian refugees to
return to their places of origin due to the
refugees' ethnic, national and religious
origins. Discrimination based on race, colour,
sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status is strictly prohibited
under international human rights law. Everyone
is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set
forth in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and other international human rights
instruments without distinction of any kind.
Everyone includes Palestinian refugees. The UN
Committee on the Convention on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination, and the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have
specifically called upon Israel to rectify
domestic legislation that prevents Palestinian
refugees from returning to their places of
origin and repossessing their homes and
properties.

The absence of respect for human rights,
including the rights of Palestinian refugees,
extends to the entire Madrid/Oslo process.
Madrid/Oslo effectively reduced universal human
rights to disputed issues to be negotiated by
the parties. There are no provisions for the
protection of human rights. In other cases of
conflict resolution, including those involving
mass refugee flows such as Guatemala, Bosnia and
Kosovo, human rights protections provide
legitimacy to the political process - i.e., a
type of 'insurance' that past abuses will not
reoccur; and if they do, a mechanism to hold
accountable those responsible for human rights
violations and ensure adequate redress for
victims of those violations. International human
rights law provides a common framework of
justice to address fears between peoples and
mediate disputes between parties.

The Oslo agreements, the plans compiled by the
Tenet-Mitchell-Zinni trio, and the more recent
Quartet (US, EU, Russia, and UN) 'Road Map', are
singularly unique because of the complete lack
of reference to human rights and international
law. Contrary to the norm, the international
community has neither insisted on the
incorporation of human rights principles into
the political process between Israel and the PLO
through the codification of principles in
agreements and the development of national human
rights institutions, nor has it held the parties
accountable for serious human rights violations.
The failed UN Security Council investigation of
serious violations of international law in Jenin
refugee camp earlier this year is only one
example of many failures.

It should come as no surprise to the
international community (i.e., the Quartet and
others), therefore, particularly in the context
of ongoing violations of international law -
including violations rising to the level of war
crimes and crimes against humanity - that
Madrid/Oslo, Tenet-Mitchell-Zinni, and the
current 'Road Map' inspire little confidence
among Palestinians, including refugees,
regardless of whether they are living in the
1967 occupied Palestinian territories or
elsewhere. If one's lived experience is the
origin of trust, then the Palestinian people,
more than two-thirds of whom are refugees, have
no reason to trust the international community
as regards the enforcement of human rights.

Despite overwhelming evidence of serious human
rights violations, the European Union refuses to
adopt basic enforcement measures set forth in
the Euro-Med Association Agreement with Israel
with regard to respect for human rights, an
"essential element" of EU-Israel relations. For
the United States, the language of human rights
seems to be altogether foreign and
unintelligible. According to US officials,
dropping a one-tonne bomb from a US-manufactured
F-16 fighter jet on a residential area in the
Gaza Strip, in full knowledge that such an
attack would result in civilian injuries and
casualties, is not a war crime or even a human
rights violation - only 'heavy-handed.'

If the international community is really
interested in building a comprehensive, just and
durable solution to the protracted conflict in
the Middle East, respect for human rights and
international law, including the rights of
Palestinian refugees and displaced persons, must
be the foundation of the political process.
Respect for refugee rights is a key indicator of
the commitment of governments and peoples to
universal human rights. Exile is neither a
durable nor a truly humanitarian solution for
refugees.

On the anniversary of International Human Rights
Day, BADIL Resource Center,

Callsupon the international community to
STOP PROMOTING 'SOLUTIONS' for PALESTINIAN
REFUGEES THAT VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL LAW. The
international community should uphold the
same rights applied in crafting durable
solutions in other refugee cases. Refugees
are not stupid. They understand that a right
that is recognized in principle but not in
practice is no right at all. Would either the
US or the EU propose that famine victims have
the right to food in principle but not in
practice? Refugees also understand that UN
Resolution 194 is fully consistent with
international law and human rights. Rights
are not subject to negotiation - neither is
the meaning of Resolution 194. An agreement
stipulating that a chair is in fact a table
does not change the reality that the chair is
still a chair. Moreover, refugees understand
the principle of free and informed choice and
that a package of options that limits the
option of return to a set number of refugees
or seeks to influence refugee choice through
targeted incentives violates the fundamental
principle of choice. Also calls upon the
international community to uphold respect for
all human rights as a fundamental component
of relations with Israel and the Palestinian
Authority and to hold accountable those
responsible for the violation of human rights
and international law;

- Calls upon Israel to UPHOLD RESPECT for HUMAN
RIGHTS and INTERNATIONAL LAW, INCLUDING the
RIGHTS OF PALESTINIAN REFUGEES. Also calls for
wider dissemination of international human
rights standards in Israeli civil society
relevant to the rights of refugees to broaden
understanding about universal standards for
crafting durable solutions to refugee problems,
and encourage a culture of tolerance towards
Palestinian refugees and displaced persons.
Palestinian refugees are not a 'demographic
threat' or some 'dark horde' seeking to invade
and destroy Israel. Further awareness-raising
should focus on the value of international law
in addressing fears, providing protection, and
mediating disputes;

Encouragesthe solidarity movement, NGOs,
academic and cultural institutions, business
companies, political parties and unions, as
well as concerned individuals to STRENGTHEN
AND BROADEN the GLOBAL ISRAEL BOYCOTT
CAMPAIGN until Israel falls into compliance
with international law including
international human rights law.

- Encourages the PLO to place human rights and
international law at the core of its search for
durable solutions for Palestinian refugees and
displaced persons as part of a comprehensive,
just and durable solution to the Israel-
Palestinian conflict.

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Attachment:

The Right of Return and Right to Property in
International Human Rights Law (References)

The right of return is codified in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (Art. 13.2) and the
International Convention on Civil and Political
Rights (Art. 12.4). Further provisions
concerning non-discrimination and the right of
return and nationality are found in the
International Convention on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (Art. 5.d.ii) and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
Cultural Rights (Art. 2.2). General Comment 22
relative to Art. 5 of the Convention on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination further
emphasizes that refugees and displaced persons
have "the right to return to their homes of
origin under conditions of safety." The right of
return is also codified in the American
Declaration of the Rights of Man (Art. 8); the
American Convention of Human Rights (Art. 22.5);
the African Charter on Human and People's Rights
(Art. 12.2); the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms (Art. 3.2, Protocol 4); and, the
Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peo
ples in Independent Countries (Art. 16.1, 16.2 and 16.3).

The right to property is also codified in numerous international human
rights
conventions. These include: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art.
17.2); the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination (Art. 5.d.v); a
nd the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (Art.
2.2). General Comment 22 relative of Art. 5 of the Convention on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination also emphasiz
es that refugees and displaced persons have "the right to have restored to
them
property of which they were deprived in the course of the conflict and to be
compensated appropriately for any such property that cannot be restored to
them." The right to pro
perty is further codified in the American Convention of Human Rights (Art.
21);
the African Charter on Human Rights and People's Rights (Art. 14 and 21.2);
the
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms
(Art.1, Protoco
l
1); and the Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in
Independent
Countries (Art. 14, 15.1, 16.4, and 16.5).

For more information on the right to return in international law, see, The
1948
Palestinian Refugees and the Individual Right of Return: An International
Law
Analysis, on the BADIL website:
http://www.badil.org/Protection/Refugee_Protection.htm

For more information on the right to housing and
property, see the website of the Centre on
Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE):
http://www.cohre.org