A/HRC/16/24
and the de facto authorities in Gaza so as to have access to witnesses and victims and to
inspect the sites of rocket attacks on Israeli territory. The Commission indicated that it had
not received a positive response either from Israel or from the de facto authorities in Gaza
and therefore was not in a position to provide any further update with respect to the rocket
attacks on Israel launched from Gaza.
50.
The Committee was advised that on 18 October 2010, the Council of Ministers of
the Palestinian Authority established a Ministerial Committee to follow up on the
recommendations of the Independent Investigation Commission. The Ministerial
Committee was mandated to issue recommendations to the Council of Ministers for the
implementation of the Commission report and submitted its report – a copy of which was
made available to this Committee – to the Council of Ministers in February 2011.
51.
The Ministerial Committee recommended a number of short-term strategies that are
to be implemented within two months of the adoption of the report. In particular, it called
on the General Prosecutor to investigate any allegation of torture or ill-treatment in
detention centers;36 it specified that civilians should not be subject to detention by the
military justice system, but that all civilian detainees should be transferred to the ordinary
civilian justice system; it urged the General Prosecutor to prosecute any official who
refuses to implement a court decision, and that any such official should be dismissed from
his functions; and it recommended that the Prime Minister issue clear directives instructing
all relevant officials that clearance by security services is not a legal requirement for
employment in the civil service.
52.
With respect to long-term strategies, the Ministerial Committee proposed six
recommendations: (a) to establish a Constitutional Court; (b) to adopt an administrative
courts act creating first and second instance administrative courts; (c) to amend the prisons
act to allow systematic oversight and monitoring by the Ministry of Justice; (d) to enact the
Palestinian criminal code; (e) to amend the Palestinian Code of Criminal Procedures to
separate investigating functions from prosecution functions; and (f) to adopt legislation to
regulate the functioning of the military justice system, criminal offenses, criminal
procedure and other issues related to the jurisdictional scope of military justice.
2.
Assessment
53.
In its previous report, the Committee noted that the Independent Investigation
Commission had undertaken independent and impartial investigations in a comprehensive
manner (A/HRC/15/50, para. 70). The Committee has received no new evidence to
challenge this finding. Rather, on the contrary, the Commission has persevered in
attempting to investigate the rocket attacks on Israeli territory, as well as other violations
allegedly committed in the Gaza Strip, but has not been provided with access to interview
the victims or to inspect the scene. Such limitation seriously hampers the adequate
fulfillment of its mandate.
54.
The Committee finds that since the adoption of the Independent Investigation
Commission report, the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations, in
particular those related to the obligation to investigate and prosecute allegations of arbitrary
detention, torture and ill-treatment, and extrajudicial killings,37 has been limited. The
General Prosecutor documented one case in particular, in which five security officers were
charged with the murder of an individual detained by the Palestinian security services. In
36
37
The report further refers to decision 149 (2009) of the Ministry of Interior prohibiting the use of
torture or ill-treatment by security services.
See the report of the Secretary-General on the second follow-up to the report of the United Nations
Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (A/64/890), annex II, paras. 464-465.
13
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