PHM-Exch> ETO Obligation to protect and corporate accountability

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Hani Serag <hserag at phmovement.org>

From: bret_thiele at yahoo.com <bret_thiele at yahoo.com>



PRESS RELEASE
*Palestinian** Village Files Complaint to United Nations against Canada*
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*"Enforce the law on corporations constructing settlements on our land"*
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*(Bil’in, Palestine*) Today, as the United Nations Human Rights Council is
set to vote on a resolution calling for UN member states to ensure that
their corporations do not conduct activities related to the Israeli
settlement enterprise, the Palestinian village of Bil’in announces that it
has lodged an individual complaint against Canada to the UN Human Rights
Committee for its failure to prevent two Canadian corporations from
engaging in human rights violations related to settlement construction in
Palestine.

The Bil’in Village Council, along with 11 village residents, lodged the
complaint under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) and allege that Canada failed to prevent human rights violations
that were aided and abetted by two Canadian corporations, Greenpark
International, Inc. and Greenmount International, Inc., for building
Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

*“We have spent years trying to protect our land from Israel and now we are
forced to battle other countries and their companies too,” *said Mohammed
Khatib, village representative and Head of the Popular Struggle
Coordination Committee.* “We hope the UN will give us the justice that we
have not been able to get from either Israel or Canada.”
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The illegal settlement of Modi’in Illit sits in part on confiscated Bil'in
land. Customary international law prohibits Israel from transferring its
civilians into the occupied State of Palestine and the erection of Israeli
settlements in Palestine constitutes a violation of international law and
may amount to a war crime. Both Canadian corporations are complicit in
directly aiding and abetting this violation by constructing, marketing, and
selling housing units for the East Mattityahu neighborhood of the Modi'in
Illit settlement.

In 2008, the Bil'in complainants filed a lawsuit in Montreal, Canada
against the two Quebec-registered companies, claiming violations of
international and Canadian law pertaining to aiding and abetting the
commission of a war crime. Both the trial and appellate courts refused to
hear the case on the merits, claiming that the proper forum for the case is
the Israeli courts. Given that the Canadian Supreme Court refused to review
the Bil'in lawsuit, Canada has failed to provide an effective judicial
remedy to the residents of Bil'in for violations of their human rights.

“*The legal systems in both Israel and Canada have failed the people of
Bil’in*” said Bret Thiele, an attorney representing Bil’in village in their
case. “*A strong decision in favour of their case by the UN Committee will
ensure some accountability and deter other companies from engaging in
illegal practices in occupied Palestine.”*
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Today, as the independent fact-finding mission to investigate the
implications of the Israeli settlements presents its report to the Human
Rights Council, the Bil'in Village Council calls on another UN body, the
Human Rights Committee, to exercise its authority and uphold the
universality of human rights by accepting Bil’in’s complaint and compelling
Canada to hold its corporations accountable for human rights violations
committed outside of its borders.

*Bil’in village representative in Palestine, *Mohammad Khatib (+972 59 891
4541)*, Attorney in the United States, *Bret Thiele (**
Bret at globalinitiative-escr.org  +**1 218 269 0214)*, and Attorneys in
Israel *Michael Sfard and Emily Schaeffer (michael at sfard.co.il;
emily at sfard.co.il; +972 3 620 6947)*, are available for interviews
regarding the case.

Bret Thiele, Co-Executive Director
The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
8 North 2nd Ave. East, #208
Duluth, MN 55802
USA
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