RES/28/25 Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination

GE.A/CONF.157/23. 5-07373 (E)



Human Rights Council Twenty-eighth session

Agenda item 7

Human rights situation in Palestine and other

occupied Arab territories

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council

28/25. Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, in

particular the provisions of Articles 1 and 55 thereof, which affirm the right of peoples to

self-determination, and reaffirming the need for the scrupulous respect of the principle of

refraining in international relations from the threat or use of force, as specified in the

Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and

Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, adopted

by the General Assembly in its resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970,

Guided also by the provisions of article 1 of the International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil

and Political Rights, which affirm that all peoples have the right to self-determination,

Guided further by the International Covenants on Human Rights, the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to

Colonial Countries and Peoples, in particular article 1 thereof, as well as by the provisions

of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted on 25 June 1993 by the

World Conference on Human Rights,1 and in particular Part I, paragraphs 2 and 3, relating

to the right of self-determination of all peoples and especially those subject to foreign

occupation,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 181 A and B (II) of 29 November 1947 and

194 (III) of 11 December 1948, and all other relevant United Nations resolutions, including

those adopted by the General Assembly, the Commission on Human Rights and the Human

Rights Council, that confirm and define the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,

particularly their right to self-determination,

Recalling also Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 338

(1973) of 22 October 1973, 1397 (2002) of 12 March 2002 and 1402 (2002) of 30 March

2002,

Taking note of General Assembly resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,

Reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination in accordance

with the provisions of the Charter, relevant United Nations resolutions and declarations,

and the provisions of international covenants and instruments relating to the right to self-

determination as an international principle and as a right of all peoples in the world, and

emphasizing that this jus cogens norm of international law is a basic prerequisite for

achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East,

Affirming the applicability of the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural

resources to the Palestinian situation as an integral component of the right to self-

determination,

Recalling the conclusion of the International Court of Justice, in its advisory opinion

of 9 July 2004, that the construction of the wall by Israel, the occupying Power, in the

Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, along with measures previously

taken, severely impedes the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, which is a

right erga omnes, and considering that the right to self-determination of the Palestinian

people is being further violated by Israel through the existence and ongoing expansion of

settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

Reaffirming that the United Nations will continue to be engaged on the question of

Palestine until the question is resolved in all its aspects in accordance with international

law,

1. Reaffirms the inalienable, permanent and unqualified right of the Palestinian

people to self-determination, including their right to live in freedom, justice and dignity and

the right to their independent State of Palestine;

2. Also reaffirms its support for the solution of two States, Palestine and Israel,

living side by side in peace and security;

3. Notes that the fragmentation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory

undermines the possibility of the Palestinian people realizing their right to self-

determination and is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the

United Nations, and stresses in this regard the need for respect for and the preservation of

the territorial unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,

including East Jerusalem;

4. Confirms that the right of the Palestinian people to permanent sovereignty

over their natural wealth and resources must be used in the interest of their national

development, the well-being of the Palestinian people and as part of the realization of their

right to self-determination;

5. Urges all Member States and relevant bodies of the United Nations system to

support and assist the Palestinian people in the early realization of their right to self-

determination;

6. Decides to continue the consideration of this question at its thirty-first

session.

57th meeting

27 March 2015

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 45 to 1, with 1 abstention. The voting was as follows:

In favour:

Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia (Plurinational State of),

Botswana, Brazil, China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, El Salvador, Estonia,

Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan,

Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Maldives, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco,

Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, Qatar, Republic

of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, the

former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Arab Emirates, United

Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Venezuela (Bolivarian

Republic of), Viet Nam

Against:

United States of America

Abstaining:

Ghana] *

* The delegation of Ghana subsequently stated that there had been an error in its voting and that it had

intended to vote in favour of the draft text.