RES/31/25 Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan

Human Rights Council Thirty-first session

Agenda item 7

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 24 March 2016

31/25. Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan

The Human Rights Council,

Deeply concerned at the suffering of the Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian

Golan due to the systematic and continuous violation of their fundamental and human rights

by Israel since the Israeli military occupation of 1967,

Recalling Security Council resolution 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,

Recalling also all relevant General Assembly resolutions, the most recent being

resolution 70/91 of 9 December 2015, in which the Assembly declared that Israel had failed

to comply with Security Council resolution 497 (1981) and demanded that it withdraw from

all the occupied Syrian Golan,

Reaffirming once more the illegality of the decision by Israel of 14 December 1981

to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan, which has

resulted in the effective annexation of that territory,

Reaffirming the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by

force, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of

international law,

Taking note with deep concern of the report of the Special Committee to Investigate

Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of

the Occupied Territories,1 and in this connection deploring the Israeli settlements in the

occupied Arab territories and expressing regret at the constant refusal of Israel to cooperate

with and to receive the Special Committee,

Guided by the relevant provisions of the Charter, international law and the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, and reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention

relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 and the

1 A/70/406 and Corr.1.

relevant provisions of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 to the occupied Syrian

Golan,

Reaffirming the importance of the peace process, which started in Madrid on the

basis of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967 and 338 (1973) of

October 1973, and the principle of land for peace, and expressing its concern at the halting

of the peace process in the Middle East and its hope that peace talks will be resumed on the

basis of the full implementation of resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) for the

establishment of a just and comprehensive peace in the region,

Reaffirming also the previous relevant resolutions of the Commission on Human

Rights and the Human Rights Council, the most recent being Council resolution 28/24 of

27 March 2015,

1. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply with the relevant

resolutions of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Human Rights Council,

in particular Security Council resolution 497 (1981), in which the Council decided, inter

alia, that the decision of Israel to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the

occupied Syrian Golan was null and void and without international legal effect, and

demanded that Israel rescind forthwith its decision;

2. Also calls upon Israel to desist from its continuous building of settlements,

the most recent of which is the settlement campaign being conducted by the so-called

Golan Regional Council under the slogan “Come to the Golan” and referred to as the

“farms project”, and to desist from changing the physical character, demographic

composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan, and

emphasizes that the displaced persons of the population of the occupied Syrian Golan must

be allowed to return to their homes and to recover their property;

3. Further calls upon Israel to desist from imposing Israeli citizenship and

Israeli identity cards on the Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan, and to desist from

its repressive measures against them and from all other practices that obstruct the

enjoyment of their fundamental rights and their civil, political, economic, social and

cultural rights, some of which are mentioned in the report of the Special Committee to

Investigate Israeli Practices affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other

Arabs of the Occupied Territories;1

4. Calls upon Israel to allow the Syrian population of the occupied Syrian Golan

to visit their families and relatives in the Syrian motherland through the Quneitra

checkpoint and under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and

to rescind its decision to prohibit these visits, as it is in flagrant violation of the Fourth

Geneva Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

5. Also calls upon Israel to release immediately the Syrian detainees in Israeli

prisons, some of whom have been detained for more than 29 years, and to treat them in

conformity with international humanitarian law;

6. Further calls upon Israel, in this connection, to allow delegates of the

International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Syrian prisoners of conscience and

detainees in Israeli prisons accompanied by specialized physicians to assess the state of

their physical and mental health and to protect their lives;

7. Determines that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken

or to be taken by Israel, the occupying Power, including the Knesset’s decision of 22

November 2010 to hold a referendum before any withdrawal from the occupied Syrian

Golan and East Jerusalem, that seek to alter the character and legal status of the occupied

Syrian Golan are null and void, constitute a flagrant violation of international law and of

the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12

August 1949, and have no legal effect;

8. Again calls upon States Members of the United Nations not to recognize any

of the above-mentioned legislative or administrative measures;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention

of all Governments, the competent United Nations organs, specialized agencies,

international and regional intergovernmental organizations and international humanitarian

organizations, to disseminate it as widely as possible and to report on this matter to the

Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session;

10. Decides to continue the consideration of the human rights violations in the

occupied Syrian Golan at its thirty-fourth session.

64th meeting

24 March 2016

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 31 to 0, with 16 abstentions. The voting was as follows:

In favour:

Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Burundi, China, Congo,

Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, India,

Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco,

Namibia, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi

Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic

of), Viet Nam

Abstaining:

Albania, Belgium, Botswana, France, Georgia, Germany, Latvia,

Netherlands, Paraguay, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland,

the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, United Kingdom of

Great Britain and Northern Ireland]