The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regrets the resignation of Makarim Wibisono, the United Nations special envoy to the Occupied Palestinian Territories mandated to report on the situation of Human Rights there. His resignation comes as a result of Israel's lack of cooperation. In a speech at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Faisal Trad, the Saudi Ambassador to the United Nations and other world organizations in Geneva, strongly condemned the Israeli persistent obstinacy in rejecting cooperation, a persistence that confirms Israel's scorn for legitimate international decisions and its insistence on violating human rights, international conventions, and international human law. It heedlessly uses power to control natural resources, launch illegal settlements, raze lands, and continually instigate and enflame hatred against the Palestinian people and their sacred sites. Ambassador Trad commended Wibisono's report which marshaled the violations committed by the Israeli occupying forces that he noted. Ambassador Trad further emphasized that the state of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is the worst ever since 1948 owing to the continuous Israeli occupation and its practices. He called on the Human Rights Council to take a firm stand to provide immediate protection to the Palestinian people before it is too late. Ambassador Trad pointed out that, until now, the International community failed to protect the human rights of the Palestinian; such failure in shouldering their responsibilities means, for the Israeli occupation forces, more killings, destruction, continuous settlement building, collective punishments, street executions, and demoralization of the occupied Palestinian people. The Ambassador warned against the tightening taking place in Jerusalem and the violations of civic, political and economic rights which the city's inhabitants are undergoing. Having covered some of the difficulties the Palestinians of Jerusalem are going through, Ambassador Trad called for a speedy appointment of the new rapporteur in accordance with the formal processes, stressing the importance of endowing the new envoy with all the necessary support that he may carry out his mission without any interference from the Israeli occupying forces.
