Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 26/03/2010
The OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has commended the United Nations Human Rights Council for adopting yesterday during its 13th Session in Geneva, a new resolution on Palestine, under the sponsorship of the OIC and the League of Arab States, which requested Israel to pay reparations to the Palestinians for the losses and damages that they suffered during the Israeli military offensive into the Gaza strip in January 2009. Significantly, this Resolution calls for the High Commissioner for Human Rights to explore and determine the appropriate modalities for the establishment of an escrow fund for the provision of reparations to the Palestinians who suffered loss and damage as a result of unlawful acts of Israel during the military operations conducted from December 2008 to January 2009. The OIC Secretary General has also welcomed the adoption of another resolution by the UN Human Rights Council condemning Israel's continued construction of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories including East Jerusalem. The resolution which was sponsored by the OIC and the League of Arab States, reaffirmed that the expansion of the Israeli settlements was not only in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant United Nations resolutions, but also undermined the efforts of the international community to advance the Middle East peace process. The Secretary General called for full and immediate implementation of the resolutions,affirming that it will bring hope to the Palestinian people and push forward the efforts of the international community to advance the Middle East peace process .
