Latest news with #NaviPillay
Sinar Daily
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Sinar Daily
UN Palestine inquiry members resign as US sanctions rapporteur
The resignations come amid heightened tensions between the UN and the US over the conduct of Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories. 16 Jul 2025 09:32am Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, gives a statement after meeting with the Slovenian parliament's Friendship Group with Palestine, in Ljubljana, on July 10, 2025. - (Photo by Jure Makovec / AFP) ANKARA - Three members of the United Nations (UN) Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory have suddenly resigned, citing personal reasons, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. Navi Pillay, Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari submitted their resignations on Monday. The commissioners believed the body required renewal and referred to personal factors such as age as part of their decision to leave, according to the Council. The commission was established to examine alleged violations of international law in the occupied territories, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. South African judge Navi Pillay (R), chair of the independent United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel speaks next to Commission member Chris Sidoti (L) during a press conference in Geneva on June 18, 2025. - (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP) The resignations come amid heightened tensions between the UN and the United States (US) over the conduct of Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories. The US imposed sanctions on Albanese for promoting "antisemitic' and "anti-Israel' rhetoric and urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to act against the US and Israel. The US had previously demanded her dismissal. In a statement on July 1, the US warned that failure to act would damage the UN's credibility and prompt US action. The UN's Special Procedures Committee condemned the sanctions, calling the US move unacceptable. - BERNAMA
New Straits Times
16-07-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
UN Palestine Inquiry members resign as US sanctions rapporteur
ANKARA: Three members of the United Nations (UN) Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory have suddenly resigned, citing personal reasons, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. Navi Pillay, Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari submitted their resignations on Monday. The commissioners believed the body required renewal and referred to personal factors such as age as part of their decision to leave, according to the Council. The commission was established to examine alleged violations of international law in the occupied territories, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The resignations come amid heightened tensions between the UN and the United States (US) over the conduct of Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories. The US imposed sanctions on Albanese for promoting "antisemitic" and "anti-Israel" rhetoric and urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to act against the US and Israel. The US had previously demanded her dismissal. In a statement on July 1, the US warned that failure to act would damage the UN's credibility and prompt US action. The UN's Special Procedures Committee condemned the sanctions, calling the US move unacceptable. – Bernama-Anadolu
Arab News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
UN-backed experts focusing on Palestinian rights quit
GENEVA: A team of three independent experts working for the UN's top human rights body with a focus on Israel and Palestinian areas say they are resigning, citing personal reasons and a need for change, in the panel's first such group resignation. The resignations, announced Monday by the UN-backed Human Rights Council that set up the team, come as violence continues in Palestinian areas with few signs of letup in the Israeli military campaign against Hamas and other militants behind the Oct. 7 attacks. The Israeli government has repeatedly criticized the panel of experts, known as the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and denied their repeated requests to travel to the region or otherwise cooperate with the team. Council spokesman Pascal Sim said the move marked the first joint resignations of Commission of Inquiry members since the council was founded in 2006. The team said in a statement that the resignations had 'absolutely nothing to do with any external event or pressure.' Navi Pillay, 83, a former UN human rights chief who has led the commission for the last four years, said in a letter to the council president that she was resigning effective Nov. 3 because of 'age, medical issues and the weight of several other commitments.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
UN-backed Team Focusing on Human Rights in Palestinian Areas Announce Resignations
A team of three independent experts working for the UN's top human rights body with a focus on Israel and Palestinian areas say they are resigning, citing personal reasons and a need for change, in the panel's first such group resignation. The resignations, announced Monday by the UN-backed Human Rights Council that set up the team, come as violence continues in Palestinian areas with few signs of letup in the Israeli military campaign against Hamas and other militants behind the Oct. 7 attacks. The Israeli government has repeatedly criticized the panel of experts, known as the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and denied their repeated requests to travel to the region or otherwise cooperate with the team, The AP news reported. Council spokesman Pascal Sim said the move marked the first joint resignations of Commission of Inquiry members since the council was founded in 2006. The team said in a statement that the resignations had 'absolutely nothing to do with any external event or pressure," while also saying they provided a good opportunity to reconstitute the panel. Navi Pillay, 83, a former UN human rights chief who has led the commission for the last four years, said in a letter to the council president that she was resigning effective Nov. 3 because of 'age, medical issues and the weight of several other commitments.' In an interview, Pillay rejected accusations from critics who accused her of antisemitism or turning a blind eye to the Hamas attacks. She recalled how she worked closely with some Jewish lawyers in the fight against apartheid in her native South Africa and was invited to Israel as the UN rights chief from 2008 to 2014. "Name-calling is not affecting me in any way,' she said by phone. 'We have striven to remain independent. That's what we are. We're an independent panel. We don't take sides ... We look at the evidence and see the direction it's taking us.' 'People who accuse us of being anti-Semitic ... they twist the facts, they invent facts, falsify facts. I would like to see them challenge the report: Which of the facts that we have set out are incorrect?' she said. Her commission condemned the Oct. 7 attacks three days afterward in a news release that said at the time that reports "that armed groups from Gaza have gunned down hundreds of unarmed civilians are abhorrent and cannot be tolerated. Taking civilian hostages and using civilians as human shields are war crimes.' She expressed regret that Israel didn't allow the commission access to Israel or Palestinian areas, saying "I feel that's an injustice to Israeli Jews because we're not taking on board their opinion or what they're saying.' Pillay said she had been recently diagnosed with low platelet count and her condition has restricted her ability to travel. Her team said it wanted to give the rights council's president — currently Ambassador Jürg Lauber of Switzerland — the ability to pick new members. Team member Chris Sidoti said Pillay's retirement marked 'an appropriate time to re-constitute the commission.' The third member, Miloon Kothari, did not provide his reasons in a letter announcing his resignation effective 0ct. 31. Neither the independent experts nor the council have any power over countries, but aim to spotlight rights abuses and collect information about suspected perpetrators that could be used by the International Criminal Court or other courts focusing on international justice. The letters were sent to the council president last week but only became public Monday. Last week, the US government announced sanctions against another independent expert mandated by the council, Francesca Albanese, who has also focused on Israel and the Palestinians. Albanese has accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians, a claim Israel has denied. Albanese said in an interview last week with The Associated Press that she was shocked by the US decision. She has not resigned.
The National
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Former UN rights chief Navi Pillay quits Israel-Palestine probe
Navi Pillay, the former UN human rights chief who has headed the world body's Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel since 2021, has resigned. Ms Pillay, a South African jurist, said in a letter made public on Monday that her resignation, effective on November 3, was due to 'age, medical issues and the weight of several other commitments'. Two other team experts, Chris Sidoti of Australia and Miloon Kothari of India, also stepped down. Their resignation letters, addressed to the president of the Human Rights Council, were sent last week. The resignation of the three-member panel comes amid mounting political pressure, including recent US sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump 's administration on Francesca Albanese, a Human Rights Council-appointed expert who has publicly condemned Israeli military actions in Gaza. Ms Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, called on July 9 for an arms embargo and the severing of trade ties with Israel, accusing it of conducting a 'genocidal campaign' in Gaza. Israel has refused to co-operate with the commission, denying its members entry and repeatedly rejecting their findings as biased. The Commission of Inquiry, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, has no prosecutorial powers but is tasked with documenting abuses and preserving evidence that could be used by international judicial bodies such as the International Criminal Court.
