GENEVA: The United States on Tuesday, on behalf of 27 countries, denounced the permanent nature of the UN commission of inquiry Israeli-Palestinian conflictwhich Venezuela and its allies pledged their support to.

US Ambassador Michèle Taylor, speaking to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) after the investigators’ report was presented, noted that these 27 countries were “deeply concerned” that the commission’s mandate was “not limited in time” and “Without Forfeiture Clause”.

These countries, including Canada, the UK, Austria and Italy, also called for an end to the “disproportionate attention” given to Israel in the Council.

Established two years ago by the HRC, the commission is tasked with investigating alleged human rights violations in the Palestinian Territories and Israel since the April 2021 escalation and the root causes of the Israeli-Israeli conflict. Palestinians.

During a press conference on Tuesday, one of the investigators, Miloon Kothari, ruled that “the permanent mandate is more than justified”.

“One country asked today why the Commission doesn’t have a sunset clause. I would answer that we have an expiration date for the Israeli occupation,” he said.

Committee chair Navi Pillay also dismissed the criticism, saying it was “very foolish not to speak to the commissioners” given the nature of their mandate.

“Penal Methods”

In their report published a few days ago, the UN investigators accuse the authorities both in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories of violating the rights of civil society. But they believe the Israeli authorities are responsible for the majority of these violations.

“Our report shows that the Israeli authorities have used various punitive methods to deter and hamper the activities of members of Palestinian civil society,” Ms Pillay said in a video address to the HRC.

After the report was published, Israel denied the allegations against it, arguing that the country has “a robust and independent civil society made up of thousands of NGOs, human rights defenders, and national and international media.”

Her representative did not take part in Council debates on Wednesday because Israel did not cooperate with the commission.

Israeli and American authoritieslike other Western countries, regularly criticize the special attention the Council gives to Israel.

Palestinian Representative Ibrahim Khraishi condemned the United States statement made on behalf of 27 countries on Wednesday. “It’s a shame,” he said.

Venezuela assisted investigators on behalf of several other countries, including China, Russia and Iran. “We are very concerned about attempts at sabotage” by the commission, said Venezuelan Ambassador Hector Constant Rosales.

For his part, the representative of the European Union pointed out that some of its Member States had not supported the establishment of the Commission due to concerns “about the scope of its mandate and its permanent nature”.