STATES SQUANDER VITAL OPPORTUNITY TO UPHOLD INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Instead of showing their commitment to upholding human rights and international law, states have callously squandered a crucial opportunity to agree key measures to enforce the application of international humanitarian law in the OPT demonstrating a chilling indifference to the fate of all civilians, and particularly of Palestinians

Responding to Switzerland’s cancellation of a conference by the High Contracting Parties (HCP) to the Geneva Conventions, requested by a 2024 UN General Assembly resolution, on the implementation of the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory due to disagreement between participating parties, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:

“The fact that states failed to fulfill their mandate to focus on enforcement of the Geneva Conventions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) is another blow to international law and a betrayal of victims of unlawful killings and other serious violations of international humanitarian law in the OPT and in Israel.

“By failing to uphold their legal obligation to ensure respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention states have put political expediency above the legal obligations to protect civilians in war time, even in the face of Israel’s relentless grave breaches of the Convention and other serious violations of international humanitarian law across the OPT and the genocide in Gaza.

Instead of showing their commitment to upholding human rights and international law, states have callously squandered a crucial opportunity to agree key measures to enforce the application of international humanitarian law in the OPT demonstrating a chilling indifference to the fate of all civilians

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International

“Instead of showing their commitment to upholding human rights and international law, states have callously squandered a crucial opportunity to agree key measures to enforce the application of international humanitarian law in the OPT demonstrating a chilling indifference to the fate of all civilians, and particularly of Palestinians,  as Israel has once again blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid to Gaza and is forcibly displacing thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

“This failure is a particular indictment of all European States that have been clamouring their commitment to international law and the rule-based order for several weeks now, in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, only to yet again fail to walk the talk, further devastating whatever remained of international and universal values.  

“The draft declaration circulated by Switzerland among participating states after a non-transparent process failed to meet basic demands around the respect for international humanitarian law and shamefully failed to acknowledge the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declaring Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, unlawful.

“Ensuring respect for the Geneva Conventions at a minimum requires that all states suspend arms transfers to the parties to the conflict, cooperate towards ensuring accountability for violations of international law and support international institutions and mechanisms, including investigations by the International Criminal Court and UN Commission of Inquiry on the OPT.”

Background:

In September 2024 the UN General Assembly called for the convening of a Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, inviting Switzerland, in its capacity as depositary of the Geneva Conventions, to convene the conference.  The 2025 HCP Conference was tasked to focus on “measures to enforce the Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to ensure respect thereof in accordance with common article 1 of the four Geneva Conventions”.

The night before the conference was scheduled to occur, Switzerland announced its cancellation, citing “profound differences between the high contracting parties.”  In a statement responding to the cancellation of the conference, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation criticized the draft declaration saying it “failed to fulfill the agreed mandate” and “was not commensurate with the gravity of the situation”.  Earlier in the week, Israel announced it would not participate in the planned Conference and urged other states not to attend.