Following the European External Action Service (EEAS) call for contributions for the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Progress Reports covering 2012 (hereafter 2012 Progress Report), the EMHRN would like to draw the attention of the EEAS to the following points, which were also shared orally during a meeting on 24 October 2012.
1. The EMHRN welcomes the fact that the ENP Progress Report for Israel covering 2011 (hereafter 2011 Progress Report) included a section on “Israel in the Occupied Territories”, as well as the stronger human rights language used in this section. This positive development allows for a better reflection of Israel’s human rights obligations towards the occupied Palestinian population, obligations which have been repeatedly recalled by the EU, several United Nations human rights bodies, as well as in the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion on the Wall in 2004. However, we call on the EU to include in its next Progress Report this section under the chapter on “Shared Values” which is the chapter where issues relating to the joint objective “to work together to promote the shared values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights and international humanitarian law” are addressed.
2. The EMHRN regrets that the section on “Israel in the Occupied Territories” does not reflect Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL). An IHL and human rights law assessment is crucial because these legal frameworks define the rights of protected civilians under occupation and the responsibilities of an occupying power under international law. A systematic and legally-based examination of Israel’s actions in the OPT would ensure that Israel’s duties towards the Palestinian residents of the OPT under its control are taken into account and that it accurately reflects the European Union’s (EU) own positions on certain Israeli practices which violate IHL. According to the EU Guidelines on Promoting Compliance with IHL, whenever relevant, the EU should include an assessment of the IHL situation in its reports on a given country or conflict.
3. In May 2011, the EEAS and the European Commission adopted a joint Communication entitled “A new response to a changing Neighbourhood”, in which it outlined “Deep Democracy Benchmarks”. This joint communication was welcomed by the Council of the European Union in June 2011. The EMHRN welcomes the EU’s analysis of these benchmarks in all ENP Progress Reports. However, we noticed that in Israel’s 2011 Progress Report, three of these deep democracy benchmarks, which we regard as highly significant, were missing or not comprehensively addressed, despite widespread violations in this regard. We call on the EU to assess those benchmarks in the 2012 Progress Report:
- The “abolition of torture and degrading punishments”, which was outlined as a key benchmark in any democracy in a letter from EU High Representative Ashton and European Commissioner Füle to all EU Foreign Ministers in February 2012, was absent from the 2011 Progress Report. The practice of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment continues to be integrated in Israel’s security system and to be practiced by Israel in Israel in 2012, and is facilitated by systematic impunity, as shown in the submissions by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), Adalah, Addameer and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, referenced below. These violations committed by Israel should be reflected in the 2012 Progress report.
- Rule of law: Over the last years, including in 2012, there has been an erosion of the rule of law in Israel, including the lack of investigations in accordance with international standards into international human rights and humanitarian law violations committed in the OPT. These include alleged torture offenses; restrictions to Palestinian victims’ access justice and remedies and the lack of enforcement of court decisions. These developments are at the centre of the culture of impunity in Israel. For further information, see the submissions of our member organisations Adalah, B’Tselem and PCATI referenced below, as well as the EMHRN Briefing ahead of the EU-Israel Informal Human Rights Working Group meeting (November 2012).
- Violations of the freedom of assembly have not been reflected comprehensively in the 2011 Progress Report, including the police brutality during demonstrations against house demolitions in the Naqab/Negev (for further information, see submission by Adalah).
4. Based on the progress report’s assessment of the Israeli IHL and human rights violations committed in the OPT, the EU should identify specific actions in the 2012 Progress Report to promote Israel’s respect of its obligations as an Occupying Power. In this regard, EMHRN calls on the EU to include in its next ENP Progress Report specific actions related to the respect of the rule of law, in particular Israel’s obligations to conduct independent, transparent, impartial, effective and prompt investigations into alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and to ensure access to justice and remedies for Palestinian victims of these violations. EMHRN also urges the EU to ensure coherence between its different external instruments, including the priority actions identified in the ENP Progress Report and the priorities agreed upon in the local human rights strategies for Israel and the OPT.
In addition to these points, the EMHRN would like to draw your attention to the following contributions from Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, which have been submitted through the general call for contributions from the EEAS:
1. Adalah Briefing Paper, Key Concerns Regarding the Rights of Palestinians in Israel and the OPT, Submitted to the EU for the 2012 ENP Progress Report (7 November 2012).
2. Al-Haq, Submission for the 2012 ENP Progress Report (24 October 2012).
3. PCATI, Submission for 2012 ENP Progress Report (November 2012).
4. B’Tselem, Submission for the 2012 ENP Progress Report (November 2012)
5. Addameer, Submission for 2012 ENP Progress Report (November 2012).
6. Physicians for Human Rights, Submission for 2012 ENP Progress Report (November 2012).