In his letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, the President of the Human Rights Council Václav Bálek, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, Gharibabadi said that the international community's inability to take decisive action in the present circumstances will exacerbate a severe humanitarian crisis, with irreparable and far-reaching repercussions.
The full text of Gharibabadi's letter is as follows:
More than 75 years have transpired since the occupation, aggression, and transgressions by the Zionist regime in the occupied Palestinian territories. Over 7 million Palestinians have been displaced throughout this period, and the toll includes more than 100 thousand fatalities and hundreds of thousands of injuries. In the past 15 years alone, over 35 thousand Palestinian children have been killed or injured.
The recent wave of atrocities perpetrated by this child-killing and apartheid regime has led to the martyrdom of more than 3,000 individuals and the injury of over 13,000 defenseless people within a span of 10 days. The regime's assault on a hospital, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,000 innocent people, predominantly women and children, constitutes an unprecedented crime and underscores the occurrence of ethnic and racial cleansing, particularly within the Gaza Strip.
The current situation primarily stems from the ongoing and egregious crimes of the Israeli regime, coupled with the deliberate silence of states and organizations purporting to champion human rights.
In this dire situation, the oppressed Palestinians find themselves compelled to invoke the right to legitimate self-defense in the face of aggressors and occupiers. In this latest wave of Zionist crimes, we bear witness to a litany of international criminal transgressions, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
The authorities of this regime have now shamelessly adopted audacious positions and actions that unequivocally qualify as international crimes, such as severing essential services like water, electricity, and fuel in Gaza, issuing threats that no individual will be safe in the besieged Gaza Strip, coercing Gazans to evacuate, and expressing that the Gaza Strip requires bombs and explosives more urgently than humanitarian assistance.
In the occupied Palestine, an array of crimes is unfolding, building upon prior transgressions. These include: killing members of a specific national, ethnic, and racial group; creating oppressive living conditions for Palestinians with the intention of extermination; expelling and forcibly transferring the population; encirclement and confinement of the populace; torture; deliberate attacks against civilians; deliberate attacks on civilian targets; deliberate attacks on humanitarian service workers and equipment; bombing and attacks on cities, villages, and residential areas; deliberate attacks on religious buildings, educational institutions, and hospitals; use of poisonous or toxic weapons; and forced starvation of civilians.
Regrettably, the global community has borne witness to the blatant breach of the United Nations Charter and international law, particularly concerning international human rights and humanitarian norms, by an aggressive and occupying regime.
This regime's illegal and criminal activities are overtly endorsed by certain Western governments, further leading to the lack of action by pertinent international organizations (for instance, the recent veto of an immediate ceasefire resolution by the United States, England, and France in the Security Council), exacerbated the occupying regime's audacity in violating the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, and subsequently denied them their inherent right to self-determination.
The international community must promptly revise its stance on the Palestinian cause and acknowledge the grave crimes perpetrated by the Israeli regime against the Palestinian people. In this critical context, Your Excellencies, as the primary authorities responsible for matters concerning the present situation, are urged to exert maximum efforts. This includes endorsing or advocating for the implementation or progression of the following measures:
1. Holding an emergency session of the Human Rights Council and issuing a decisive and effective resolution against the Israeli regime;
2. The decisive engagement of the Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly with the aim of stopping the attacks and crimes of the Israeli regime and holding it accountable;
3. Establishing an international court to bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes by the Israeli regime against the defenseless Palestinian people;
4. Launching an all-out arms embargo against the Israeli regime;
5. Sending humanitarian aid, including food, water, medicine, and medical equipment, as well as providing fuel and electricity to the besieged residents of the Gaza Strip; and
6. Forcing the Zionist Israeli regime to end its occupation and aggression and adhere to its international obligations under international human rights and international humanitarian law.
It is paramount to emphasize that the Israeli regime has consistently violated the jus cogens of international law. Consequently, states and international organizations are duty-bound to withhold recognition of the situation resulting from these breaches, abstain from supporting the perpetuation of such circumstances, and collaborate to halt this ongoing violation.
The international community's inability to take decisive action in the present circumstances will exacerbate a severe humanitarian crisis, with irreparable and far-reaching repercussions.
The High Council for Human Rights avails itself of this opportunity to renew the assurances of its highest consideration.
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