RES/7/17 Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination

Human Rights Council

Resolution 7/17. Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, in

particular the provisions of Articles 1 and 55 thereof, which affirm the right of

peoples to self-determination, and reaffirming the need for the scrupulous respect of

the principle of refraining in international relations from the threat or use of force, as

specified in the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly

Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the

United Nations, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24

October 1970,

Guided also by the provisions of article 1 of the International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and article 1 of the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights, which affirm that all peoples have the right to

self-determination,

Guided further by the International Covenants on Human Rights, the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on the Granting of

Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and by the provisions of the Vienna

Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted on 25 June 1993 by the World

Conference on Human Rights (A/CONF.157/23), and in particular Part I, paragraphs

2 and 3, relating to the right of self-determination of all peoples and especially those

subject to foreign occupation,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 181 A and B (II) of 29 November

1947 and 194 (III) of 11 December 1948, as well as all other resolutions which

confirm and define the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, particularly their

right to self-determination,

Recalling also Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967,

338 (1973) of 22 October 1973, 1397 (2002) of 12 March 2002 and 1402 (2002) of 30

March 2002,

Recalling further the conclusion of the International Court of Justice, in its

advisory opinion of 9 July 2004, that the construction of the wall by Israel, the

occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

along with measures previously taken, severely impedes the right of the Palestinian

people to self-determination,

Recalling the resolutions adopted in this regard by the Commission on Human

Rights, the last of which was resolution 2005/1 of 7 April 2005,

Reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination in

accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the relevant

United Nations resolutions and declarations, and the provisions of international

covenants and instruments relating to the right to self-determination as an

international principle and as a right of all peoples in the world, as it is a jus cogens in

international law and a basic condition for achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive

peace in the region of the Middle East,

1. Reaffirms the inalienable, permanent and unqualified right of the

Palestinian people to self-determination, including their right to live in freedom,

justice and dignity and to establish their sovereign, independent, democratic and

viable contiguous State;

2. Also reaffirms its support for the solution of two States living side by

side in peace and security, Palestine and Israel;

3. Stresses the need for respect for and preservation of the territorial

unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including

East Jerusalem;

4. Urges all Member States and relevant bodies of the United Nations

system to support and assist the Palestinian people in the early realization of their

right to self-determination;

5. Decides to continue the consideration of this question at its session of

March 2009.

40th meeting 27 March 2008

Adopted without a vote.