Geneva – Together – Two UN experts warned on Thursday that ‘unilaterally cutting off Palestinian banks from the global banking system would be a violation of the basic principles of international law.’
This warning comes after threats issued by the Minister of Finance in the extremist Israeli occupation government, Bezalel Smotrich, to immediately stop the transfer of Palestinian tax revenues (clearance), and cancel the grant of the pledge of protection from lawsuits before the Israeli courts, and compensation to the Israeli ‘Discount’ and ‘Hapoalim’ banks. They provide money transfer services to Palestinian banks (correspondent services), in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues its movements against Israel in international bodies, including the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the Security Council, and the United Nations General Assembly .
The independent expert on foreign debt and human rights, Atiya Waris, and the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of
unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alina Douhan, said in a statement: ‘Unilaterally cutting off Palestinian banks from the global banking system also violates the principle of sovereign equality among states. The principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the principle of cooperation in good faith.’
The statement added: ‘The impossibility of bank transfers will affect all of the Palestinian people indiscriminately, will exacerbate the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, and affect all basic human rights, including the right to food, the right to water and sanitation, the right to health, and freedom from torture.’ “And the right to life .”
The statement warned that ‘isolating the Palestinian Authority from the financial world will paralyze the Palestinian economy,’ stressing that the pledge of protection (for Israeli banks that provide correspondent services to Palestinian banks) is guaranteed under the Oslo Accords and the Paris Economic Protocol.
The st
atement said: ‘Because Israel collects a large percentage of Palestinian tax revenues (clearance), the Palestinian Authority is vulnerable to Israel’s unilateral suspension of clearance revenue transfers, which is considered unilateral coercive measures that contradict international law.’
The clearing is the tax revenues that Israel collects on goods imported into the Palestinian territories through the ports that it fully controls, estimated monthly at approximately 700 million shekels per month ($202 million) in return for a 3% commission.
According to the statement, since January 24 , monthly tax revenues allocated to public sector employees in Gaza have been transferred to a trust account based in Norway. However, the Norwegian Fund cannot release the funds needed to pay the salaries of public sector employees in Gaza without Israel’s permission.
The statement called for “temporary measures to be taken to prevent irreparable damage and possible violations of international law.”
It is noteworthy that s
pecial rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is an intergovernmental body responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world .
Rapporteurs and experts are tasked with studying human rights situations and submitting reports on them to the Human Rights Council. It should be noted that this position is honorary, and these experts are not considered employees of the United Nations and do not receive compensation for their work .
Source: Maan News Agency
