MIDDLE EAST: The violation of international humanitarian and human rights law should be considered by the International Court of Justice in the challenge to the construction of a wall in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, according to the Government.
The recommendation comes in a document submitted to the court by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen. In it, he points to Ireland's support for the UN resolution of October 21st last year demanding the reversal of the building of the wall, and to the position of the European Union.
He said that Ireland considered that the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the destruction of real and personal property, was applicable to the Occupied Territories. The wall involved such destruction, he said. He added that Israel had not shown that its stated goal of achieving the security of Israel could not be achieved by constructing the wall within Israeli territory.
Referring to international human rights law, he said that the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and that on Civil and Political Rights, also applied to the Occupied Territories. These covenants protected the rights of people to freedom of movement and access to land, jobs and markets, all restricted by the wall.