Special Committee: Occupied Palestinian Territory (1968)

Following the 1967 Six-Day War and the 5th emergency special session international concern rose about Israeli practices in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (UNSCIIP), also known as the Special Committee on Israeli Practices, was established in December 1968 by GA resolution 2443 (XXIII) (A/RES/2443(XXIII)). The resolution decided to “establish a Special Committee to investigate Israeli policies and practices affecting the human rights of persons under occupation since June 1967”, consisting of three members (ibid., para. 1). The latest report of the UNSCIIP, distributed on 25 October 2023, stipulated that the Special Committee “is not mandated to investigate human rights violations committed by other duty bearers in the occupied territories”(A/78/553).¹

In resolution 3005 (XXVII) (A/RES/3005 (XXVII)) in 1972, the GA further requested the Special Committee to investigate Israeli policies and practices affecting the human rights of those in the occupied territories, especially “Israeli settlements”, any efforts to annex territories occupied by Israel since 5 June 1967, population transfers or deportation, as well as interference in the freedom of worship in the holy places of these territories (ibid., paras. 7, 8). The resolution also called upon Israel to “cooperate with the Secretary-General and the Special Committee and to facilitate their tasks” (ibid., para 9). As of June 2024, Israel had refused both participation in the Special Committee’s inquiries and access to the disputed territories.²

The mandate of the Special Committee on Israeli Practices is extended annually by the GA, and is the longest serving of any COI established by the GA. It is composed of three Member States, Malaysia, Senegal and Sri Lanka, and is supported by its secretariat in the OHCHR in Geneva. The Special Committee reports to the Secretary-General annually, with its reports reviewed in the GA’s Special Political and Decolonization Committee (fourth Committee). The latest 2023 report of UNSCIIP documented the “rising influence of Israeli settlers on the human rights situation in the occupied territories” from September 2022 to September 2023 (A/78/553).