A/HRC/16/24
7.
Regarding the temporal scope of the mandate, for the current phase of its work the
Committee has concentrated on identifying and analyzing relevant information issued or
released since the filing of its first report in September 2010.
8.
Taking into account that the Human Rights Council in its resolution 15/6 “renews
and resumes” the mandate of the Committee, the Committee understands its current
mandate to be exactly as previously defined and reported to the Council.
B.
Methodology
9.
Following the renewal of its mandate, the Committee updated its terms of reference
in order to reflect its approach to the assignment given to it by the Council. The Committee
further established its working methodology.
10.
Specifically, the Committee sought to discharge its mandate by analyzing
information in the public domain and by supplementing this information through
consultations with identified stakeholders.
11.
The Committee undertook a mission to Amman on 20 and 21 February 2011 to meet
with Palestinian officials and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). While the
Committee had planned to carry out a separate mission to Gaza, it was unable to gain
access to Gaza through Israel, due to the lack of authorization from the Government of
Israel, or through Egypt, in view of the security situation prevailing there during the weeks
preceding the preparation of the present report.
12.
The Committee continues to view the relevant government authorities as among the
most important sources of information about the progress of investigations called for by the
General Assembly and sought their cooperation from the initial stages of its work.
13.
On 13 January 2011, the Committee wrote to the Permanent Representative of Israel
requesting a meeting and met with him on 26 January 2011. Although the Permanent
Representative received the Committee members most cordially, he explained that it was
the policy of the Government of Israel to refuse to cooperate with any aspect of the
“Goldstone process”. Further, he relayed his Government’s denial of the Committee’s
request for permission to enter Israel in order to speak to government officials and victims
of rocket attacks launched from Gaza, and to access the West Bank and Gaza through Israel
to interview victims and relevant authorities with respect to the operations in Gaza
codenamed by Israel “Operation Cast Lead”.
14.
On 13 January 2011, the Committee wrote to the Permanent Representative of the
Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine seeking a meeting and on 26 January 2011 the
Committee met with him. With the assistance of the Permanent Observer Mission, the
Committee held discussions in Amman with the Minister of Justice, the General Prosecutor,
and the Chairman and two members of the Palestinian Independent Investigation
Commission established pursuant to the FFM report. As a follow-up to these discussions,
on 3 March 2011, the Committee wrote to the General Prosecutor and the Minister of
Justice requesting additional information. On 10 March 2011, the Minister of Justice
submitted supplemental materials. Likewise, the General Prosecutor forwarded documents
on 10 March 2011 related to criminal investigations undertaken by his office. The
Committee also held a teleconference on 10 March 2011 with members of the Palestinian
Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR).
15.
The Committee is grateful to the Palestinian Authority for the extensive cooperation
provided throughout its term.
16.
In addition, to obtain the fullest information available on investigations undertaken
by the Palestinian side, the Committee contacted the de facto authorities in Gaza on 24
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