A/HRC/25/38 indictment; in two cases the files were lost and in four cases an indictment was filed, out of an overall total of 197 cases.114 45. Victims interviewed by OHCHR have reported that the police have not kept them informed of any progress in investigations. For example, in a case documented by OHCHR, a man beaten unconscious by settlers and whose skull was fractured with metal piping and stones, near Silwad, Ramallah governorate, on 11 April 2013, filed a complaint on 21 April at the police station in Binyamin settlement. At the time of preparation of the present report, the police had reportedly failed to provide him with any information pertaining to his case. 46. This lack of action is in stark contrast with investigations conducted into violence against Israeli citizens in the West Bank. For example, the response to the injury of an Israeli girl in Psagot settlement on 5 October 2013 saw IDF conduct thorough search operations in the neighbouring Palestinian town of Al-Bireh, resulting in the arrest of two men on 8 October 2013.115 47. The Israeli authorities have announced some positive initiatives, including the formation of a special police unit to combat nationalistic hate crimes and “price tag”116 attacks. Unfortunately, this has not been accompanied by any reduction in the number of settler-related incidents and, in fact, this type of crime is on the rise.117 There is also a mechanism for seeking compensation for such crimes through the Ministry of Defense. However, the necessity for effective criminal accountability mechanisms remains evident. Without fundamental changes in the approach of the Israeli authorities to these types of incident, Palestinians will continue to be vulnerable to settler attacks. VII. Settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan 48. Israel continues to occupy the Syrian Golan despite numerous resolutions of the Human Rights Council, for example, resolution 22/26, and of the Security Council calling for an end to the occupation, including resolution 497 (1981), in which the Security Council decided that the decision of Israel to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan was null and void and without international legal effect and demanded that Israel, the occupying power, rescind forthwith its decision. In resolution 497 (1981), the Security Council also called upon Israel to desist from changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan and in particular to desist from the establishment of settlements. In this regard, the Secretary-General has, in previous reports, expressed concern regarding the approximately 20,000 Israeli settlers who live in 33 settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan, and about the ongoing exploitation by Israel of natural resources in the occupied Syrian Golan, including gas, oil, wind and water (see A/68/513). It is noted that, during the universal periodic review of Israel on 29 October 2013, a number of stakeholders reiterated calls for an end to the construction of all Israeli settlements in the occupied Arab territories, including the occupied Syrian Golan. 114 115 116 117 www.yesh-din.org/userfiles/file/datasheets/data%20sheet%20oct2013/Yesh%20Din%20%20Netunim%2010_13%20English.pdf. See also A/68/513, para. 52. OHCHR interviews with residents of Al-Bireh. See also www.jpost.com/National-News/Nine-yearold-Israel-girl-shot-in-West-Bank-327944. Strategy whereby Israeli settlers attack Palestinians and sometimes IDF in response to events or actions affecting them, such as evacuation of outposts or killings of settlers. See www.globalprotectioncluster.org/_assets/files/field_protection_clusters/Occupied_Palestinian/files/oP t_PC_Update_Settler_Violence_October_2013_EN.pdf. 17