A UN independent commission of inquiry has begun public hearings on the Israeli human rights violations in the Palestinian territories on Monday evening.
The first day has focused on Israel’s outlawing of several Palestinian rights organizations last year.
The commission established by the UN Human Rights Council last year plans five days of hearings beginning Monday which it says will be impartial.
The hearings will also address the killing of the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was shot in the head by Israeli forces while on assignment in the occupied West Bank in May.
Shawan Jabarin the head of legal-aid human rights group Al-Haq told the three-member panel that Israel’s decision to outlaw Palestinian rights groups as “terrorist” organizations was “like an execution” designed to stop them from probing abuses.
He charged that the “terrorist” designation in October had come after a years-long smear campaign against his organization which included efforts to get backers to drop their support as well as death threats against him and other colleagues.
“We will not stop. Yes they can detain us they can arrest us they can put us in prisons they can kill us… but they can’t change our beliefs… We will continue fighting against the culture and the policy of impunity” he said.
“In these proceedings we are not drawing any conclusions or making any judgements” lead investigator Navi Pillay a former UN rights chief from South Africa told the gathering via video link.
