A/HRC/37/39 4. OHCHR notes that six of the 10 listed activities – (a), (b), (d), (e), (f) and (i) – refer to activities that are explicitly linked to the settlements, while the remaining four – (c), (g), (h) and (j) – refer to activities that may not be geographically connected to settlements, but form part of the processes that “enable and support the establishment, expansion and maintenance of Israeli residential communities beyond the Green Line”. 1 For example, OHCHR notes that a company that is operating a quarry on Israeli-confiscated land in the West Bank will be considered to fall under category (g) regardless of whether it is located in or connected to a defined settlement community. Its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the use of its natural resources for business purposes is sufficient to fall within the scope of the database, as required by resolution 31/36. 5. The parameters of the database encompass local and international companies, whether domiciled in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territory or abroad, carrying out listed activities in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Companies engaged in activities related to the occupied Syrian Golan do not fall within the mandate. 2 6. The mandate for producing the database established by resolution 31/36 is strictly confined to the 10 activities listed in paragraph 3 above. The database does not cover all corporate activity related to settlements, nor does it extend to all corporate activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory that may raise human rights concerns. 3 In addition, while there may be other types of entities engaged in significant corporate activity related to the settlements, only those entities established as business enterprises are considered; nongovernmental organizations, charities, sports associations or federations, and other entities are therefore excluded from consideration. C. Methods of work 7. As with all other mandates, in performing the present mandate assigned to it by the Human Rights Council in resolution 31/36, OHCHR was guided by the principles of independence, impartiality, objectivity, credibility and professionalism. OHCHR formulated its methodology in accordance with these principles, based on best practices, the advice and guidance of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, and consultations with stakeholders (see paras. 23-25 below). 8. The work conducted by OHCHR in producing the database is in full compliance with resolution 31/36 and does not purport to constitute a judicial process of any kind. OHCHR is mandated to make factual determinations of whether businesses enterprises are engaged in the listed activities. 9. It is the view of OHCHR that the work performed in consolidating and also in communicating the information in the database to the Human Rights Council can assist both Member States and business enterprises in complying with their respective legal obligations and responsibilities under international law, including through constructive engagement and dialogue and by serving as a source of information to promote transparency. 1 2 3 The fact-finding mission defined Israeli settlements as encompassing “all physical and non-physical structures and processes that constitute, enable and support the establishment, expansion and maintenance of Israeli residential communities beyond the Green Line of 1949 in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” (see A/HRC/22/63, para. 4). While resolution 31/36 refers to the occupied Syrian Golan, paragraph 17 establishing the mandate to produce a database and the report of the fact-finding mission to which it refers pertain to the Occupied Palestinian Territory only. For instance, the mandate for the database does not extend to companies involved in supplying the Israel Defense Forces with weapons or other equipment used during military operations, nor does it encompass companies involved in controlling access to and from Gaza. 3