UN General Assembly Resolutions on the Wall
By Arab Media Watch director Victor Kattan
The UN General Assembly has adopted three principal resolutions on Israel’s Wall. The first resolution, ES-10/13:
“1. Demands that Israel stop and reverse the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, which is in departure of the Armistice Line of 1949 and is in contradiction to relevant provisions of international law.”
144 states voted in favour of this resolution, 12 abstained and four voted against it (31 states did not take part in the vote). Those states which voted in favour of this resolution included all members of the European Union and Switzerland. Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and the US voted against it.
To see resolution ES-10/13, click here.
The second resolution, ES-10/13, had obviously been drafted by someone with legal expertise as it differed substantially from the first. In this resolution, the General Assembly reaffirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Additional Protocol 1 to the occupied Palestinian territories. It was:
“Gravely concerned at the commencement and continuation of construction by Israel, the Occupying Power, of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, which is in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949 (Green Line) and which has involved the confiscation and destruction of Palestinian land and resources, the disruption of the lives of thousands of protected civilians and the de facto annexation of large areas of territory, and underlining the unanimous opposition by the international community to the construction of that wall.”
It therefore decided, in accordance with Article 96 of the Charter of the United Nations, to request the International Court of Justice, pursuant to Article 65 of the Statute of the Court, to urgently render an advisory opinion on the following question:
“What are the legal consequences arising from the construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, as described in the report of the Secretary-General, considering the rules and principles of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions?”
Ninety states voted in favour of this resolution, 74 abstained and eight voted against it (19 states did not take part in the vote). Those states which voted in favour of this resolution included Brazil, India and South Africa. Member states of the EU and the Russian Federation abstained from the vote. Australia and Ethiopia joined Israel, the US and some small pacific island states in voting against this resolution.
To see resolution ES-10/14, click here.
The ICJ subsequently rendered an advisory opinion calling on Israel to dismantle the Wall:
http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/idocket/imwp/imwpframe.htm
In the aftermath of the advisory opinion, the General Assembly passed resolution ES/10 – 15, which:
“1. Acknowledges the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004 on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem;
2. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal obligations as mentioned in the advisory opinion;
3. Calls upon all States Members of the United Nations to comply with their legal obligations as mentioned in the advisory opinion;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to establish a register of damage caused to all natural or legal persons concerned in connection with paragraphs 152 and 153 of the advisory opinion;
5. Decides to reconvene to assess the implementation of the present resolution, with the aim of ending the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and its associated regime in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;
6. Calls upon both the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to immediately implement their obligations under the road map, in cooperation with the Quartet, as endorsed by Security Council resolution 1515 (2003), to achieve the vision of two States living side by side in peace and security, and emphasizes that both Israel and the Palestinian Authority are under an obligation scrupulously to observe the rules of international humanitarian law;
7. Calls upon all States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to ensure respect by Israel for the Convention, and invites Switzerland, in its capacity as the depositary of the Geneva Conventions, to conduct consultations and to report to the General Assembly on the matter, including with regard to the possibility of resuming the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention;
8. Decides to adjourn the tenth emergency special session temporarily and to authorize the President of the General Assembly at its most recent session to resume its meeting upon request from Member States.”
150 states voted in favour of this resolution, 10 abstained and six voted against it (25 states did not take part in the vote). Those states which voted in favour of this resolution included the EU, Switzerland and the Russian Federation. Australia joined Israel, the US and three small pacific states in voting against it.
To see resolution ES-10/15, click here.