GENEVA – UN experts* today condemned shocking threats by US President Donald Trump to “take over” and “own” Gaza and move the Palestinian population elsewhere, using military force if necessary.
“Such blatant violations by a major power would break the global taboo on military aggression and embolden other predatory countries to seize foreign territories, with devastating consequences for peace and human rights globally,” they said.
“Implementing the US proposal would shatter the most fundamental rules of the international order and the United Nations Charter since 1945, that the US was instrumental in creating to restore peace after the catastrophic Second World War and Holocaust. It would return the world to the dark days of colonial conquest,” the experts said.
“It is manifestly illegal to invade and annex foreign territory by force, to forcibly deport its population, and to deprive the Palestinian people of their inalienable right to self-determination, including to retain Gaza within a sovereign Palestinian state,” they said.
“Such violations would replace the international rule of law and the stability it brings with the lawless “rule of the strongest.” International law aims to stop predatory countries from violently colonising foreign lands and subjugating their populations, which inevitably leads to gross human rights violations,” they said.
“Just as over half a century of Israeli occupation of Palestine has not brought peace or security to Israel or Palestine, US occupation would be similarly ruinous and fuel perpetual war, death and destruction,” they said.
The mass deportation of civilians from occupied territory was recognised as a war crime under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 after the Second World War, to prevent the recurrence of acts such as Nazi Germany’s expulsion of populations from European countries. Today, it is also a crime against humanity.
“The US proposal would accelerate forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands, which began in the 1947-48 Nakba, and has since included home demolitions, evictions, destruction and theft of natural resources and the criminal building of illegal Israeli colonial settlements,” they said.
In his previous term, President Trump illegally recognised Israel’s unlawful annexations of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which have been rejected by the International Court of Justice, the General Assembly, the Security Council and an overwhelming majority of countries.
“If the US President is genuinely concerned for the welfare of Palestinians, the US should broker a lasting ceasefire, resume funding to UNRWA, compensate Palestinians for damage resulting from US weapons and munitions supplied to Israel despite the serious risk of violations of humanitarian law, and end arms transfers. It should also pressure Israel to fund reconstruction and provide reparation for violations, pursue accountability for perpetrators of international crimes, and meaningfully support Palestinian statehood,” they said.
The experts also urged the United States to support the multilateral bodies that protect human rights in Palestine, including the Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court, which advance US national interests in liberty and justice.
Israeli military attacks in Gaza have killed over 48,100 Palestinians and injured 110,000, the majority women and children. They left 85 per cent of the population, about 1.9 million people, homeless and deprived of adequate food, water and other essentials, damaged or destroyed most housing, agricultural and public infrastructure and devastated the environment.
“All countries who care about human rights and the international rule of law should resolutely oppose the US President’s illegal threats. The world must never again accept a lawless world dominated by brute force that endangers us all,” they warned.
*The experts: Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders**;** Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Genevieve Savigny, Chair of the Working group on peasants and other rural workers; Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing; Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons; Laura Nyirinkindi (Chair), Claudia Flores (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Ivana Krstić, and Haina Lu, Working group on discrimination against women and girls; Astrid Puentes Riaño, Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito (Chair-Rapporteur), Ravindran Daniel, Michelle Small, Joana de Deus Pereira, Andrés Macías Tolosa, Working Group on the use of mercenaries; Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; Surya Deva, Special Rapporteur on the right to development; Bina D’Costa (Chair), Barbara G. Reynolds, Isabelle Mamadou, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Heba Hagrass, Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Ashwini K.P. Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Nicolas Levrat, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children and Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons.
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what are known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
For more information and media requests please contact: hrc-sr-ct@un.org
For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org) or Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org)
Follow news related to the UN's independent human rights experts on Twitter: @UN_SPExperts