By Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Press Release, January 5, 2016
“The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Makarim Wibisono, yesterday submitted his resignation to the President of the Human Rights Council after Israel had repeatedly denied him access to the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) stresses that Israel’s continuous banning of Special Rapporteurs from entering the oPt is part of the Israeli policy to conceal the truth relevant to the commission of war crimes and grave violations of human rights against the Palestinians, who are the original owners of the land. Moreover, PCHR highlights that the international community should take a serious position to stop the Israeli violations against the Palestinian people and to put an end to the Israeli non-compliance with the international law.
Mr. Wibisono mentioned in his resignation that repeated requests for access, both written and oral, had been unsuccessful for over 18 months. He also did not receive any reply from Israel to his latest request in October 2015. Furthermore, Mr. Wibisono underscored that his mandate would not be fulfilled without having direct access to the Palestinian victims in the West Bank and Gaza Strip…”