New Delhi
7 July 2006
Concerned over the "deteriorating humanitarian conditions" of the
Palestinian people, India and 28 other countries have demanded an end to military
action by Israel in the occupied areas and sought immediate release of arrested
Palestinian ministers and members of Palestinian Legislative Council.
A special session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Thursday also
decided to send a fact-finding mission urgently to the Palestinian areas to assess the
ground situation. After two days of deliberations, the session adopted a resolution on the
human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory expressing "grave concern at
the detrimental impact of the current Israeli military operation on the already
deteriorating humanitarian conditions of the Palestinian people."
India and 28 other countries voted in favour of the resolution, while 11 voted against and
five abstained. The spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters India's
vote was "in keeping with [New Delhi's] traditional position on Palestine." The
spokesman said the special session was called by a group of Arab states including
Tunisia and not by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) as mentioned in certain
media reports.
An amendment moved by Pakistan to the draft resolution was also approved by a vote of
28 to 0, with 17 abstentions. India voted in favour of the amendment. By that
amendment, the Human Rights Council urged all concerned parties to respect the rules
of international humanitarian law, refrain from violence against the civilian population
and treat under all circumstances all detained combatants and civilians in accordance
with the Geneva Conventions, the statement said.
The 29 countries which voted in favour of the resolution are: Algeria, Argentina,
Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Ghana, Guatemala,
India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru,
Philippines, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tunisia,
Uruguay and Zambia.
Israel launched military action after one of its soldiers was abducted in an attack by
Hamas at a security post on June 25. The Council also asked Israel to immediately
release the arrested Palestinian ministers, and members of the Palestinian Legislative
Council.
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