Israeli regime's 'dual legal system' leads to high number of Palestinian criminal convictions: UN expert

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – A UN expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories since 1967 said on Tuesday that the high number of criminal convictions for Palestinians stems from violations of international law and the criminalization of ordinary acts of life.

Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, spoke at a UN press conference in Geneva after delivering a statement to the Human Rights Council the preceding day.

Albanese said she does not condone violent acts that Palestinians may have committed during decades of illegal occupation of what remains of historical Palestine in the land that Israel has occupied since 1967.

“What leads to mass incarceration, what leads to these huge numbers, is that most criminal convictions result from violations of international law and criminalization of ordinary acts of life,” said Albanese, an Italian international lawyer.

By deeming all Palestinians a potential security threat, she said “Israel is blurring the line between its own security and the security of its annexation.”

“Protecting Palestinians' rights is a way also to ensure a present and future of peace, and for the Israelis as well,” she added.

Albanese said Israel has built settlements, segregated roads, walls, checkpoints, and physical infrastructure that act as an arbitrary deprivation of liberty for Palestinians.

- Bureaucratic architecture

“That happens behind bars, and this is also supported by bureaucratic architecture made of permits and bans that further confine and frustrate Palestinians in the limited land that remains to them,” she said.

Concerning her report, Albanese said she focused her report on arbitrary deprivation of liberty due to the gravity of this phenomenon.

“Since 1967, Israel has detained approximately one million Palestinians in the occupied territory, including tens of thousands of children,” said the UN expert.

“Currently, there are 5,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including 160 children, and approximately 1,100 are detained without charge or trial.

“My report does not condone any acts of violence committed by Palestinians while living under an unlawful occupation or in their pursuit to end it,” she said.

“However, we must acknowledge that most Palestinians have been convicted through a series of violations of international law, such as discrimination, persecution, and breaches of due process and for ordinary acts of life and in the exercise of legitimate civil and political rights.”

Albanese said the enforcement of Palestinians' deprivation of liberty in the occupied territory "rests in the hands of the Israeli military, which writes, enforces, and reviews these martial laws that only apply to Palestinians."

She said Israeli domestic law applies to Jewish-Israeli settlers who are illegally residing in the areas.

“This dual legal system is the pillar of Israel’s apartheid regime. The presence of the Palestinian Authority does not change this reality, nor does it alter Israel’s obligations under international law.”