In a letter addressed to 16 UN rapporteurs that was released on Tuesday, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said crimes committed by the Israeli regime against women and children in Gaza represent serious violations of the international law.
Following is the text of Kadkhodaei’s letter:
Dr. Kadkhodaei, Head of the Islamic Public Law Association of Iran, Writes to 16 UN Special Rapporteurs on Israel's Crimes in Gaza
Dr. Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, Head of the Islamic Public Law Association of Iran, penned a letter to 16 UN Special Rapporteurs. The letter addresses the condemnable crimes perpetrated by Israel's regime in Gaza.
The Gaza Strip has been the scene of deadliest attacks by Israel since October 7.
As a result of Tel Aviv’s horrific and appalling crimes, the total death toll in the besieged enclave has passed 10,000 of which over 4,000 were defenseless children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
This shows the apartheid nature of the Israeli regime.
In the meantime, despite the fact that international law -through customary law and treaties- provides a great deal of protection for women and children in armed conflicts, the Israeli military continues the targeted killing of women and children in Gaza. This is a crime which one cannot turn a blind eye on it.
Using banned weapons, forcing two million people out of Gaza and making them homeless, making plans for complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza, imposing blockade on civilians, denying Palestinians their full sovereignty over their natural resources, cutting people’s access to food and medicine, targeting civilian infrastructures, including schools, hospitals, and residential, historical and cultural sites, and confiscating their lands are all among the regime’s crimes and violations which have led to the fragmentation of Palestinians’ motherland.
The United Nations General Assembly’s resolutions, as well as the International Court of Justice’s decisions, have repeatedly criticized the regime for committing these atrocities, but these crimes need to be independently probed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
The role of the UN’s special rapporteurs is to monitor, promote and raise awareness on Israel’s ongoing crimes against Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
You, in the capacity of the UN’s special rapporteur and in accordance with Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council (5/2, Annex A/HRC/5/21), are obliged to report on the deteriorating situation of two million Palestinians in Gaza who are grappling with electricity crisis, food crisis, and water crisis.
Women and children are main victims of unrelenting Israeli bombardment and it is incumbent upon special rapporteurs to report without any form of prejudice on such atrocities, taking a one-sided approach.
Articles 3 and 5 of the Code of Conduct call for an independent capacity and exercise of functions through a professional, impartial assessment of facts based on internationally recognized human rights standards, and free from any kind of extraneous influence, incitement, pressure, threat or interference, either direct or indirect.
Even Article 12 urges rapporteurs to set aside their political inclinations while reporting.
“Bear in mind the need to ensure that their personal political opinions are without prejudice to the execution of their mission, and base their conclusions and recommendations on objective assessments of human rights situations.”
Slanted reporting based on undocumented sources undermines the principle of impartiality which- as a cornerstone of international law- helps prevent biased and unfounded reporting.
Undoubtedly, SPr’s unbiased report would help the international organizations and community move towards global peace and justice.
You are expected to fulfill your tasks as outlined in specific UN resolutions and fully address- in your future reports- Israeli human rights violations in the Gaza Strip.
It is worth considering that the Israeli regime as well as the US would continue to exert pressure on SPrs to affect and overshadow their impartiality and objectivity; however, it is obvious that your conscientiousness, justice-seeking spirit, and independent status would hold back all pressures.
Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei
Head of the Islamic Public Law Association of Iran
The recipients of the letter are as follows:
Ms. Francesca Albanese
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967
Ms. Alena Douhan
Special Rapporteur on Unilateral Coercive Measures
Mr. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo
Special Rapporteur on the rights to water and sanitation
Mr. Felipe González Morales
Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
Mr. Olivier De Schutter
Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights
Ms. Ashwini K.P.
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism
Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur
Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons
Mr. Livingstone Sewanyana
Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order
Ms. Cecilia M. Bailliet
Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity
Ms. Irene Khan
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression
Ms. Tlaleng Mofokeng
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health
M. Balakrishnan Rajagopal
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing
Mr. Fakhri
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
Ms. Mary Lawlor
Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders
Ms. Alexandra Xanthaki
Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights
Ms. Alice Jill Edwards
Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
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