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BUSINESSES SHOULD RESPECT RIGHTS A UN expert calls for a boycott of companies profiting from Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. By
Kanaga Raja In a report to the sixty-seventh session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Special Rapporteur, Mr Richard Falk, also called upon the Government of Israel to desist from settling its population in the occupied Palestinian territory and begin the process of dismantling the settlements and returning its citizens to its own territory, namely on the Israeli side of the Green Line, in accordance with international law, numerous Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Separation Wall. In his report, Mr Falk highlighted selected individual companies "that operate, conduct business or otherwise profit from Israeli settlements" located in the occupied Palestinian territory. The case studies highlighted include Caterpillar Inc. (US), a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment; Veolia Environnement, a French multinational company; Group4Security (G4S), a British multinational corporation that provides security services; Dexia Group (Belgium), a European banking group; Ahava, an Israeli cosmetics company; Volvo Group (Sweden); The Riwal Holding Group (the Netherlands), an international aerial work platform rental specialist; Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence electronics company; Hewlett Packard (US); Mehadrin, one of Israel's largest agricultural companies; Motorola Solutions Inc. (US); Mul-T-Lock/Assa Abloy (Sweden), a company dealing with high security solutions; and Cemex (Mexico), a world leader in the building materials industry. The Special Rapporteur called on the businesses highlighted in the report, as a matter of urgency, to take transparent action to comply with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Global Compact and relevant international laws and standards, with respect to their activities connected with the Government of Israel and its settlements and Wall in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. "This should include, as a first step, immediately suspending all operations, including the supply of products and services, which aid in the establishment or maintenance of Israeli settlements." "In short, businesses should not breach international humanitarian law provisions. Nor should they be complicit in any breaches. If they do, they may be subject to criminal or civil liability. And this liability can be extended to individual employees of such businesses," Mr Falk was quoted in a UN news release as saying while presenting his report at the General Assembly. "My main recommendation is that the businesses highlighted in the report – as well as the many other businesses that are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise – should be boycotted, until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards," he added. According to the Special Rapporteur's report, from 1967 to 2010, Israel established an estimated 150 settlements in the West Bank. In addition, there are an estimated 100 "outposts", settlements built without official Israeli authorisation but with the protection, infrastructural support and financial help of the Government of Israel. Such "outposts" are recently the subject of Government of Israel processes and discussions regarding their potential legalisation under Israeli law. "This is a serious escalation of the settlement agenda that is inconsistent with Israeli political rhetoric supporting negotiations to establish a viable, independent, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State," Mr Falk said. The report noted that there are also 12 settlements in Jerusalem that were established, with Government funding and assistance, on land unlawfully annexed by Israel and made part of the city. Settlements control over 40% of the West Bank, including critical agricultural and water resources. The population of Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory is between 500,000 and 650,000. Approximately 200,000 of these settlers live in East Jerusalem. Statistics indicate that the settler population (excluding that of East Jerusalem) has, over the past decade, grown at an average yearly rate of 5.3%, compared to 1.8% in the Israeli population as whole. In the past 12 months, this population increased by 15,579 persons. According to the rights expert, the effort Israel has expended in the settlement enterprise – financially, legally and bureaucratically – has turned many settlements into affluent enclaves for Israeli citizens within an area where Palestinians live under military rule and in conditions of widespread poverty. "The establishment of the settlements is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law as set forth in the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention) and the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention IV of 1907." In building settlements and associated infrastructure, Mr Falk stressed, Israel further violates international law through the appropriation of Palestinian property not justified by military necessity, and by imposing severe movement restrictions on Palestinians. Such restrictions violate those human rights dependent on freedom of movement, including rights to health, education, family life, work and worship. "Israel has created a regime of separation and discrimination, with two separate systems of law in Palestinian territory: one system applies to the settlers, and treats the settlements as de facto extensions of Israel and grants settlers the rights of citizens with the protections of a quasi-democratic State. In contrast, the Palestinians are subject to a system of military administration that deprives them of legal protection and the right to participate in shaping policies regarding the land in which they live." Mr Falk added: "These separate systems reinforce a regime in which rights depend on national identity and citizenship. A dual system of roads, one for settlers and one for Palestinians, further entrenches the discriminatory separation between the two communities." In his report, the Special Rapporteur pointed to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, endorsed by the Human Rights Council in June 2011, and which provide a global standard for upholding human rights in relation to business activity, as well as the Global Compact, a leading global voluntary initiative for corporate social responsibility that also addresses the issue of business and human rights. "The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights require all business enterprises to respect human rights, which means, in the first instance, avoiding infringing on the human rights of others and addressing adverse impacts on human rights." The Special Rapporteur called upon both States and business enterprises to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Guiding Principles in the context of business operations relating to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. "The principles outlined in the Global Compact are clear. Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights and ensure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses," Mr Falk further said. The Special Rapporteur noted that the businesses highlighted in his report constitute a small portion of a wide range of companies that have linked their business operations to Israel's settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. Mr Falk said that he received a large amount of information from stakeholders concerning business practices of companies in relation to Israel's settlements. The businesses include, inter alia, retailers and supermarket chains, fast food suppliers, wine producers and products that are often labelled "products of Israel", but are in reality produced or extracted from the occupied Palestinian territory. They include small, medium and large Israeli-owned companies and multinational corporations. In his report, the Special Rapporteur highlighted several selected illustrative cases of companies and their business operations vis-a-vis Israeli settlements. One case study is on Caterpillar Incorporated, one of the leading global manufacturers of construction and mining equipment. The report noted that Caterpillar's worldwide employment was 132,825 at the end of the second quarter of 2012. On 25 July 2012, Caterpillar announced an all-time quarterly record profit per share of $2.54. Sales and revenues were $17.37 billion, also an all-time record. Profit was $1.699 billion in the quarter. Mr Falk said: "Caterpillar has been publically criticized by various actors, including religious organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations mechanisms, for supplying to the Government of Israel equipment, such as bulldozers and construction apparatus, which is used in the demolition of Palestinian homes, schools, orchards, olive groves and crops." According to the report, the widely publicised death of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old peace activist from the United States of America, on 16 March 2003, highlighted the use of Caterpillar products and brought world attention to the demolition of Palestinian property. Ms. Corrie was protesting to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza and, despite being dressed in highly visible bright orange clothing, was killed when the Caterpillar bulldozer ran over her, fracturing her arms, legs and skull. "Despite numerous reports, statements and advocacy regarding Caterpillar, the company continues to ignore the human rights implications of its activities in the occupied Palestinian territory." In recent years, the Special Rapporteur said, the Mission Responsibility through Investment Committee of the Presbyterian Church attempted to engage with Caterpillar and noted: "Company officials made it clear that the company took no responsibility for the use of its products even by its dealers (the only party considered to be a customer), had no procedure in place for monitoring or ensuring compliance with Caterpillar's stated expectations even in a situation with a documented historic pattern of the equipment being used in human rights violations, and no desire to develop such a procedure. Further, they indicated that Caterpillar, although a global company doing business in virtually every country except where prohibited by US law, had no capacity to evaluate whether particular actions are in accord with human rights conventions or international humanitarian law." The Special Rapporteur called upon the Government of Israel to immediately move forward with reparations to the Palestinian people - whether through land and monetary compensation or otherwise - in full and transparent consultation with affected Palestinians, for all activities related to its settlement enterprise since 1967, also ensuring that land used by businesses is restored to its condition status quo ante unless improved. He further called upon civil society to actively pursue legal and political redress against non-complying businesses, where necessary in their own national legal and political frameworks, especially where allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity can be substantiated in relation to settlement activities. Civil society was also called upon to vigorously pursue initiatives to boycott, divest and sanction the businesses highlighted in the report, within their own national contexts, until such time as they bring their policies and practices into line with international laws and standards, as well as the Global Compact. Finally, the Special Rapporteur called upon the international community to consider requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice regarding the responsibility of businesses in relation to economic activities of settlements that are established in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. – Third World Network Features. -ends-
The above article is reproduced from the SUNS #7470, 1 November 2012. When reproducing this feature, please credit Third World Network Features and (if applicable) the cooperating magazine or agency involved in the article, and give the byline. Please send us cuttings. And if reproduced on the internet, please send the web link where the article appears to twnet@po.jaring.my. 3896/12
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