Reference: 78/2009
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights has followed the deferral of the UN Human Rights Council vote on the Goldstone Report, and the consequences of this decision on the internal situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), with grave concern. Al Mezan has stressed that the deferral of the vote denies the right of the Palestinian people to effective judicial remedy and provides a further opportunity for Israeli war criminals to escape justice. In light of the seriousness of the decision to defer the vote, Al Mezan is calling for the establishment of an independent inquiry to determine the reasons behind the deferral, and the parties responsible for taking this decision.
Regardless of the gravity of the decision to defer the vote, Al Mezan stresses that the public interest necessitates swift action aimed at achieving national reconciliation and unity: the deferral of the Goldstone Report vote must not be employed as justification for postponing the signing of the Palestinian reconciliation agreement due to take place in Cairo on 26 October 2009. Signing the reconciliation agreement is critical to ending the internal division which constitutes a grave threat to the realization of the national rights of the Palestinian people. The signing of this agreement must not be delayed and international support for the Goldstone Report, and for the national rights of the Palestinian people, must not be squandered.
Al Mezan stresses that the reunification of the Palestinian political system and its institutions will prevent the taking of unilateral decisions that harm the Palestinian cause. Accordingly, all parties concerned with the public interest must support Palestinian national unity, and consider the deferral of the Goldstone report as an additional driver for national unity and not the opposite.
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights commends the key role played by Egypt in seeking to bring an end to Palestinian internal division and achieving national reconciliation over the course of several years in spite of the many obstacles. Al Mezan calls on Egypt to exert all possible efforts to ensure the signing of the Palestinian reconciliation agreement on 26 October 2009.
Al Mezan reiterates its call upon all Palestinian factions, and especially the Hamas and Fatah movements, to place the national interest of the Palestinian people at forefront of their agendas, protect their rights and minimize their suffering, through resolving to achieve national reconciliation without delay.
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