The UN Human Rights Council has appointed the three Commissioners for the CoI on Gaza. Yet, a similar one established on Eritrea a month before is stalled for at least six more months.
At a July 23 special session on Gaza–its seventh against the Jewish state, more than any other country in the world–it was decided to establish “an independent, international commission of inquiry … to investigate all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014.”
On August 11, the three Commissioners were named, and after one declined, a third one was appointed on August 25.
Yet, a similar Commission of Inquiry, established a month before on June 23, seems to have dropped as a UN priority. It focuses on Eritrea, “one of the most closed countries in the world,” with a mandate “to investigate all alleged violations of human rights.”
The Commissioners have yet to be named. In addition, the President of the Human Rights Council revealed in a meeting with NGOs yesterday, that in his meetings with UN officials from the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) as well as its ACABQ (Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions), the budget has still not been approved. This will happen around October 2014 with the CoI to begin its work in January 2015.
The UN Human Rights Council has again showed how Israel-bashing is on top of its priorities, and overrides all other issues. It is another example of the well-known fact that resolutions against Israel serve to keep dictatorial regimes safe from UN scrutiny. Please explain that to the millions suffering of human rights abuses around the world.
