MAKARIM WIBISONO QUITS AS U.N. EXPERT ON PALESTINE

New York, 25 Rabiul Awwal 1437/5 January 2016 (MINA) – The U.N. expert on the human-rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories resigned Monday, complaining that Israel never granted him access to the areas he was mandated to monitor.

‘The United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Makarim Wibisono, Monday submitted his resignation to the president of the Human Rights Council, effective as of 31 March, 2016,’ a U.N. statement said.

Wibisono, who took the position in mid-2014, ‘expressed deep regret that throughout his mandate, Israel failed to grant him access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory,’ Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) quoted the UN statement as saying.

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‘Unfortunately, my efforts to help improve the lives of Palestinian victims of violations under the Israeli occupation
have been frustrated every step of the way,’ Wibisono said in the U.N. statement.

He will present his last report to the Human Rights Council in March.

Mr. Wibisono, an Indonesian diplomat, said that that throughout his tenure, the Government of the State of Palestine cooperated fully with the mandate, and he voiced deep concern at the lack of effective protection of Palestinian victims of continuing human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law. (T/R07/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)