Occupied Palestinian territory: Linking health to human rights

Health and Human Rights

Volumn 8, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 160-176

  Stefanini, Angelo ^a   Ziv, Hadas ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA   (Italy)

^b Physicians for Human Rights   (Israel)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

HEALTH POLICY; HUMAN RIGHTS;

ASIA; EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; MIDDLE EAST; PALESTINE; WORLD;

EID: 20544459297     PISSN: 10790969     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/4065380     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the total number of Palestinian deaths and injuries in the West Bank and Gaza from 29 September 2000 to 22 September 2004, inclusive, is, respectively, 3,222 and 27,484. See http://www.palestinercs.org/intifadasummary.htm. (Retrieved October 15, 2004).
2. On the Israeli side, Magen David Adom's web site provides the following statistics: from 29 September 2000 through 1 September 2004, 885 killed, 566 severely injured, 825 moderately injured, and 4,389 lightly injured. Available at http://www.magendavidadom.org. (Retrieved 15 October 2004).
3. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, A Legacy of Injustice: A Critique of Israeli Approaches to the Right to Health of Palestinians in the Occupied Territory (Jerusalem: PHR, 2002): p.6.
4. For our purposes we may divide international law into human rights law (including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and humanitarian law (which include the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and 1977 Protocols). While the Geneva Conventions are meant to protect civilians during wars ("Jus in Bello"), the Charter of the United Nations was created with the aim to codify the conditions under which the use of force is permissible ("Jus ad Bellum").
5. See http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cpr.html.
6. This claim has been rejected by both UN human rights bodies and the European Court of Human Rights. Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Israel, UN Doc. E/C.21/1/ Add.69, 2001; Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Israel, UN Doc. CCPR/C/79/Add.93, 1998. See also the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights relating to the applicability of human rights in territory subject to the effective control of the state. Loizidou v. Turkey, App. No. 40/1993/435/514 (Preliminary Objections) (1995): paras. 62-64.
7. Paragraph 3 of this article permits restrictions on grounds of national security and public order. In conditions of emergency, moreover, Article 4 of the Convention permits states to take steps derogating from their undertakings in accordance with the Convention, with the exception of a number of specific rights (such as the prohibition on torture) that may not be derogated from in any circumstances. The right to freedom of movement is not included in the category of rights that are to be observed in all circumstances.
8. B'Tselem, Civilians Under Siege (Jerusalem: 2001): p. 51.
9. General Assembly, UN Doc. A/57/366/Add.1 (2002): para. 4.
10. The World Bank, Disengagement, the Palestinian Economy and the Settlements (23 June 23, 2004): p. 7.
11. The World Bank, Intifada, Closures and Palestinian Economic Crisis: An Assessment (October, 2004). Available at http:// siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/ wbgaza-4yrassessment.pdf.
12. Ibid, p. 20.
13. Ibid, pp. 9-12.
14. R. Giacaman, A. Matarieh, V. Nguyen-Gillham, and R. Abu Safieh, Quality of Life in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Unpublished preliminary findings, 2004).
15. Aluf Benn, "Sharon Approved: Separation Security Fence Will be Erected along the Green Line," Ha'aretz, 4/5 (June 2002).
16. B'Tselem, The Separation Barrier (Jerusalem: September 2002): p. 3.
17. B'Tselem, Not All It Seems- Preventing Palestinians Access to Their Lands West of the Separation Barrier in the Tulkarm-Qalqiliya Area (Jerusalem: June 2004).
18. "On 2 October 2003, about one month after the construction work on the first section of the barrier was completed, the commander of Central Command forces, Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, declared the area between that section and the Green Line a closed military area. The declaration refers to this area as the 'seam area,' and states that 'No person shall enter or stay in the seam area' and that 'A person found in the seam area shall be obligated to leave it immediately.'" Ibid, p. 8.
19. Personal communication from PHR-Israel to one of the authors (H.Z.) 2004.
20. Physicians for Human Rights, Israel, At Israel's Will: The Permit Policy in the West Bank (Jerusalem: PHR, September 2003).
21. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Occupied Palestinian Territory, Preliminary Analysis of the Humanitarian Implications of Latest Barrier Projections. Available at http://www.reliefweb.int/hic-opt/main.asp.
22. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP), Humanitarian Appeal 2005 for Occupied Palestinian Territory, pp. 7-16.
23. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, A Legacy of Injustice (Jerusalem: PHR, 2002): pp. 54-59.
24. Data from UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Consolidated Appeals Process, Humanitarian Appeal 2002 for Occupied Palestinian Territory; Ibid, Humanitarian Appeal 2003 for Occupied Palestinian Territory; Ibid, Mid-Year Review (see note 35).
25. See http://www.healthinforum.net/.
26. Most of the Birzeit University reports are available at: http:// www.healthinforum.net/modules.php?name=Downloads.
27. Z. Abdeen, G. Greenough, M. Shahin, and M. Tayback, Nutritional Assessment of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (USAID, Johns Hopkins University, Al Quds University, CARE, 2002).
28. The MARAM Project. Prevalence of Vitamin A Deficiency Among Children, Aged 12-55 Months, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (June 2004). Available at http://www.healthinforum.net/files/nutrition/ VitamnA_report.pdf.
29. World Health Organization, Global Prevalence of Vitamin A Deficiency, UN Doc, WHO/NUT/95.3, 1995.
30. A. Sha'ar, P. Kelly, and E. Kleinau, USAID Village Water and Sanitation Program West Bank of Palestine. Environmental Health Assessment- Phase II (Save the Children, June 2003).
31. Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949, articles 55 and 56.
32. Physicians for Human Rights (see note 21): pp. 33-53;
33. B'Tselem, No Way Out: Medical Implications of Israel's Siege Policy (June 2001).
34. "Israel Blocks UN Mission to Jenin." The Guardian (24 April 2002).
35. See Report of the UN Secretary-General on events in Jenin and other Palestinian cities (1 August 2002);
36. UN General Assembly Res. ES-10/10, Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (7 May 2002).
37. Ibid, Humanitarian Appeal 2004 for Occupied Palestinian Territory.
38. Z. Abdeen, G. Greenough, R. Qasrawi, and D. Bdour, Nutrition & Quantitative Food Assessment, Palestinian Territories (USAID, Johns Hopkins University, Al Quds University, CARE 2003).
39. Pre-Intifada figures from Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Food Security Assessment and Nutritional Surveillance (1996).
40. I b i d.
41. "A damage assessment was conducted by the World Bank with broad-based donor support immediately following the intensified violence in March-April 2002 and developed an estimate of damages to infrastructure and institutions of over US$330 million; this is in addition to an estimate of damages of US$300 million, prepared by the Bank, that were incurred prior to March, between September 2000 and December 2001." The World Bank, Technical Annex for a Proposed Trust Fund Grant of US$20 Million to West Bank & Gaza for an Emergency Municipal Services Rehabilitation Project, Report No. T7569 (22 November 2002).
42. The World Bank, Disengagement, the Palestinian Economy and the2 Settlements (23 June 2004): p. 13.
43. The World Bank, Four Years-Intifada, Closures and Palestinian Economic Crisis: An Assessment (22 November 2004).
44. Fact sheet on the socio-economic and humanitarian situation submitted to Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, Rome, 10 December 2003, cited in UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Mid-Year Review of the Consolidated Appeals Process, Humanitarian Appeal 2004 for Occupied Palestinian Territory (2004).
45. Fourth Geneva Convention (see note 30): article 60.
46. United Nations Secretary-General, Statement to the Commission on Human Rights, UN Press Release SG/SM/8196 (12 April 2002).
47. World Health Organization Constitution, available from the World Health Organization. Available at http://policy.who.int/cgi-bin/ om_isapi.dll?hitsperheading=on&infobase=basicdoc& record=(C88)&softpage=Document42.
48. United Nations Secretary-General, Statement to the Commission on Human Rights, UN Press Release SG/SM/8196 (12 April 2002).