The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will hold on Monday a discussion of the process surrounding a discriminatory blacklist of companies doing business with Israel.
The issues mentioned by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a letter to the Council requesting a delay, echo concerns raised by the watchdog group, NGO Monitor, in correspondence it had with the UN.
In December 2016, NGO Monitor contacted the UN officials responsible for compiling the list, inquiring what due process and legal safeguards were being instituted before blacklisting corporations for legal business activity in Judea and Samaria.
At the beginning of January, NGO Monitor sent a position paper to the UN urging the UNHRC to drop the planned blacklist as it violates international law, ignores due process rights, and promotes anti-Semitism.
The list is being compiled by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to UNHRC Resolution 31/36. NGO Monitor research indicates that it is being prepared in conjunction with anti-Israel activists who advocate for BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) campaigns against Israel.
Anne Herzberg, a legal advisor at NGO Monitor and author of the position paper explained, "It is clear that the UN process lacks oversight, notice of inclusion, and the ability to challenge the arbitrary determinations. Even UN officials recognized the complete illegitimacy of proceeding in its current composition." READ MORE
