introduction
1. In its resolution 31/36, adopted on March 24, 2016, on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, the United Nations Human Rights Council “invites the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to and to ensure that Israeli settlements guarantee the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of Palestinians throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, and of the recommendations contained in Article 117 thereof. A necessary implementation step is to create a database of all companies involved in the activities detailed in section 96 of the Act.The said report will be updated annually and the data therein will be updated at the 34th session. The report will be sent to the Board of Directors in the form of a report.
2. In response to this request, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submitted an interim report to the Human Rights Council setting out the methodology used to create the database (A/HRC/37/39). Additional report (A/HRC/43/71) containing a database of 112 entities based on the relevant activities of the entities up to 1 August 2019. The report further states, in paragraph 32, that an entity is no longer involved in the relevant listed activities and that there is a reasonable belief that the entity has ceased or is no longer active. It says it can provide information if there is a reason to do so. Companies involved in related activities will be removed from the database.
3. Since the publication of that report in February 2020, a number of companies have provided information to OHCHR indicating that they have ceased or are no longer involved in relevant activities. Additionally, OHCHR has become aware of information that a number of companies have undergone changes in their structure, ownership, and/or operations that affect their involvement in relevant listed activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. did.
4. As the normal budgetary resources required for an annual update of the database on an unrestricted basis do not exist, this update has been prepared within existing resources and exceptionally without affecting future decisions. I am.
Update scope and work methods
5. To prepare this update, OHCHR surveyed 112 companies listed in its February 2020 report (A/HRC/43/71). Its scope includes, based on information available to OHCHR, the structure, ownership, and ownership of these entities in relation to their involvement in relevant listing activities from August 1, 2019 to December 31, 2022; This includes a reassessment of the operational situation. Therefore, this update is not intended to provide a complete list of companies engaged in specific activities related to Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
6. The work carried out by OHCHR in producing the current update followed the same parameters that applied to the initial creation of the database as set out in A/HRC/43/71. The establishment and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories amounts to Israel's relocation of its own civilians to the occupied territories, which is prohibited under international law. 71, is not, and is not intended to be, a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding of any kind. Nor does it provide legal characteristics of the activities described or the company's involvement therein.
7. In resolution 31/36, the Human Rights Council recommended that the activities reflected in the database be reviewed by reference to a list compiled by an independent international fact-finding mission investigating the civil and political impact of Israeli settlements. defined the parameters of , Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the Palestinian People (A/HRC/22/63). This includes:
(a) The supply of equipment and materials to facilitate the construction and expansion of settlements and walls and associated infrastructure;
(b) the provision of surveillance and identification equipment for settlements, walls and checkpoints directly connected to settlements;
(c) Supply of equipment for the demolition of houses and properties, destruction of farms, greenhouses, olive groves and crops;
(d) supply of security services, equipment and materials to enterprises operating in the residence;
(e) the provision of services and public works that support the maintenance and survival of settlements, including transportation;
(f) Banking and financial services that support the development, expansion, and maintenance of settlements and their activities, such as mortgage loans and business development.
(g) the use of natural resources, especially water and land, for business purposes;
(h) Pollution and the dumping or transfer of waste into Palestinian villages.
(i) Captivity of the Palestinian financial and economic markets and practices that disadvantage Palestinian businesses, including through movement restrictions, administrative and legal restrictions;
(j) utilize the profits and reinvestments of enterprises owned in whole or in part by the settler for the development, expansion and maintenance of the settlement;
8. In line with the methodology applied in A/HRC/43/71, the parameters of activities considered for inclusion in this update are those 10 related to Israeli-based companies in occupied Palestine. strictly limited to the activities of carrying out listed activities in connection with the Occupied Palestinian Territories, within the Territories or abroad; In terms of time, the relevant period considered was from August 1, 2019 to December 31, 2022.
9. For the purposes of this update, OHCHR has analyzed and taken into account information received from the companies themselves in response to OHCHR's communications to each of the 112 entities listed in the database, as well as public information, including companies. We also analyzed the available information. ” Reports by unique websites and resources, United Nations, civil society organizations (Israeli, Palestinian, international) and media sources. OHCHR updated the Working Group on Human Rights and Multinational Enterprises and Other Corporate Issues on conceptual and methodological issues. Decisions regarding individual entities in this update will be made solely by his OHCHR. Regarding the 112 companies listed in the February 2020 report, OHCHR will send a letter to each company in July 2022 informing them of the database review and confirming that the company's structure, ownership, or organization It requested further relevant information regarding its involvement. Listed activities within 60 days.
10. 13 out of 112 companies responded to these letters. Responses from companies included one or more of the following common approaches: (a) request removal from our database; (b) Providing updated information indicating that the entity has ceased or ceased to be involved in one or more of his listed activities; (c) Confirmation of the company's involvement in one or more of the listed activities. (d) any objection to his OHCHR mandate to perform such functions; (d) Refusal to respond substantively to an invitation offered. and/or (e) inquiries regarding renewal obligations and/or processes. OHCHR answered all questions. In some cases, a dialogue process has developed between OHCHR and companies. Direct communication facilitated the exchange of information and gave companies the opportunity to share further opinions and provide more information about the extent of their involvement in the listed activities. In some cases, companies were completely unable to respond.
11. Based on the totality of available information, OHCHR has assessed for each company whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the company has ceased or is no longer involved in the activity in question. In that case, the company was removed from the database.
12. At the end of the process, OHCHR provided all 112 companies with written notice to either remove them from the database as appropriate or continue to add them to the database.
