From Roudy's link
In May 2008 Israel refused to admit Falk to gather information for a report. The
National Lawyers Guild urged Israel to permit Falk entry, stating "Falk made no claims any different from those made by John Dugard, the man he was to replace, in several reports on conditions in the Occupied Territories."
[39] Human Rights Watch issued a statement asking Israel to reverse its expulsion of Falk from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
[40] In a July 2008 interview Falk stated the constraints would "limit my exposure to the direct realities. But I think it's quite possible to perform this role without that exposure. Barring my entry complicates my task but doesn't make it undoable."
[41]
In June 2008, Falk proposed to the Human Rights Council that his mandate to investigate violations of international humanitarian law in the Palestinian territories be extended to include possible Palestinian infringements. He stated his goal was to "insulate" the Council, which is dominated by Islamic and African states, usually supported by
China,
Cuba and
Russia, "from those who contend that its work is tainted by partisan politics".
[42]
On December 9, 2008, the United Nations released a statement by Falk in his official capacity as "Special Rapporteur" noting that
United Nations Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon, General Assembly President
Miguel D’Escoto and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Navi Pillay, among other top officials, have expressed concern for the "desperate plight" of civilians in
Gaza. Falk said: "And still Israel maintains its Gaza siege in its full fury, allowing only barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave off mass famine and disease." He outlined steps that must be taken to avoid a "humanitarian catastrophe".
[43] These included implementing the "responsibility to protect" a civilian population from collective punishment and a determination of "whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law", which
The Jerusalem Post wrote would go before the
International Court of Justice at
The Hague.
[44][45]
On December 14, Falk arrived at
Ben Gurion Airport with staff members from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on an official visit, planning to travel to the
West Bank and
Gaza to prepare a report on Israel's compliance with human rights standards and international humanitarian law.
[46][47][48][49] In an interview Falk stated the Israeli government distorts his real views and that he saw the expulsion as an "insidious pattern of trying to shift the attention from their objections to the person."
[50] Pillay called Israel's detention and expulsion of Falk as "unprecedented and deeply regrettable".
[51] As of March 2011, Falk was still denied entry into and effectively banned from Israel.
[52]
On December 27, 2008, Falk issued a statement condemning the
December 2008 Israel strikes on Gaza as "war crimes" because he claims they included collective punishment, targeting of civilians and a disproportionate military response to Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, which also targeted civilians. He stated that Israel had ignored Hamas' diplomatic initiatives to re-establish the ceasefire which expired December 26 and condemned nations which provided Israel military support and participated in the siege of Gaza.
[53] In an article for the
Houston Chronicle, Falk reaffirmed that he had "called on the International Criminal Court" to investigate Israeli leaders responsible for possible violations of international criminal law.
[54]
2009[edit]
In March 2009, Falk stated that
Israel's offensive in Gaza constituted a war crime of the "greatest magnitude". He called for an independent group to be set up to investigate the war crimes committed on both sides.
[55] The British government responded to Falk's report by stating that "the report of the UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur is unbalanced and contributes little."
[56] In October 2009 Falk endorsed the
United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict(also known as the "Goldstone Report") as "an historic contribution to the Palestinian struggle for justice, an impeccable documentation of a crucial chapter in their victimization under occupation".
[57]
2010[edit]
In his August 10, 2010 UN Special Rapporteur report Falk detailed the accusation that Israel was practicing a policy of
apartheid in the Palestinian territories:
"Among the salient apartheid features of the Israeli occupation are the following: preferential citizenship, visitation and residence laws and practices that prevent Palestinians who reside in the West Bank or Gaza from reclaiming their property or from acquiring Israeli citizenship, as contrasted to a Jewish right of return that entitles Jews anywhere in the world with no prior tie to Israel to visit, reside and become Israeli citizens; differential laws in the West Bank and East Jerusalem favouring Jewish settlers who are subject to Israeli civilian law and constitutional protection, as opposed to Palestinian residents, who are governed by military administration; dual and discriminatory arrangements for movement in the West Bank and to and from Jerusalem; discriminatory policies on land ownership, tenure and use; extensive burdening of Palestinian movement, including checkpoints applying differential limitations on Palestinians and on Israeli settlers, and onerous permit and identification requirements imposed only on Palestinians; punitive house demolitions, expulsions and restrictions on entry and exit from all three parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories."
[58][59]
2011[edit]
In 2011, Falk spoke to the UN Human Rights Council and stated that Israeli policies in
Jerusalem amounted to "ethnic cleansing" against the Palestinian population. He urged the Council to ask the
International Court of Justice to investigate Israel for acts of "colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing inconsistent with international humanitarian law" committed during its occupation of the Palestinian territories.
[60]
2012[edit]
Falk's report to the UN Human Rights Council focused on Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners and recommended that The International Court of Justice at the Hague should be asked to issue an advisory opinion on Israel’s treatment of prisoners, an opinion which might also cover Israel’s "prolonged occupation" of Palestinian territory. His report also asked the Human Rights Council to censure Israel because of its use of administrative detention, take "emergency notice" of Israeli legislative attempts to legalize West Bank settlements, and to increase attention on Israel’s refusal to cooperate with his work. He stated that Israeli military retaliation for rocket fire from Gaza was not justified. The US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council said the US "continues to be deeply troubled by this council’s biased and disproportionate focus on Israel."
[61]
In Falk's report to the U.N. General Assembly he recommended that "businesses highlighted in the report – as well as the many other businesses that are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise – should be boycotted until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards." He specifically named the United States'
Caterpillar Inc.,
Hewlett-Packard and
Motorola; Israel's
Ahava,
Elbit Systems and
Mehadrin;
Sweden's
Volvo Group and
Assa Abloy ;
France's
Veolia Environment;
United Kingdom's
G4S,
Belgium's
Dexia Group,
Netherlands'
Riwal Holding Group and
Mexico's
Cemex.
[62]At a news conference Falk said: "The focus on business activities is partly an expression of frustration about the inability to obtain compliance with these fundamental legal obligations of Israel and the ineffectiveness of the U.N. efforts to condemn settlement expansion." He also stated "The whole issue of Palestinian self-determination is at risk here."
[63]
The report drew criticism from the
United States Ambassador to the United Nations,
Susan Rice, who called it "irresponsible and unacceptable",
[64][65] and the Canadian foreign ministry which called it "biased and disgraceful" and called on Falk to withdraw his "offensive" report or resign from his UN post.
[66] The Israeli Mission to the UN stated that "while he [Falk] spends pages and pages attacking Israel, Falk fails to mention even once the horrific human rights violations and ongoing
terrorist attacks by
Hamas."
[67] Caterpillar Inc. called the report inaccurate and misleading, reflecting his "personal and negative opinions toward Israel". Hewlett Packard said that Falk was "far from an independent and unbiased expert in this matter."
[64] Several countries, including Egypt and Iran, called the report fair and balanced.
[66]
In December, Falk visited the region and the Gaza Strip with the "initial purpose assessing the overall impact of Israel’s prolonged occupation and blockade" against Gaza. However, after Israel's November seven-day "
Operation Pillar of Defense" military actions against Hamas, Falk claimed "there arose an urgent need to investigate Israel’s seemingly deliberate attacks against civilian targets." After visiting Palestinian survivors of military attacks, Falk stated that "some attacks killed and harmed civilians in a grossly disproportionate manner and thus appear to violate international law." He called today on Israel "to abide by and fully implement the cease fire agreement" and called on the international agreement to make sure it did so.
[68]
2013[edit]
Richard Falk's annual report, delivered to the UN Human Rights council on June 9, 2013, called for an international investigation into Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners. The report criticised the use of arbitrary detention, torture and coerced confessions stating that, "The treatment of thousands of Palestinians detained or imprisoned by Israel continues to be extremely worrisome". Falk said that Israel currently holds 5,000 Palestinians in custody and has imprisoned 750,000 since the start of the occupation. Falk also criticized and called for an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza, saying that it amounted to the "collective punishment of 1.75 million Palestinians." He argued that viability of Gaza was at stake, "With 70 percent of the population dependent on international aid for survival and 90 percent of the water unfit for human consumption, drastic and urgent changes are urgently required if Palestinians in Gaza are to have their most basic rights protected."
[69][70]
Falk also called for the
Red Cross or a commission of international law experts to establish a convention to address the specific issues related to situations of prolonged occupation. He said that "Forty-six years ago today Israel's occupation of Palestine began. Six days of war has turned into 46 years of occupation", concluding, "Forty-six years of denying Palestinians their most basic rights has not achieved peace, Israel’s continuous annexation of Palestinian resources and territory."
[69][70] Additionally, Falk wrote that the commission to investigation
UN Watch which he accused of conducting "a smear campaign" by issuing
"a series of defamatory attacks demeaning his character, repeatedly distorting his views on potentially inflammatory issues."
[71][72]
