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Saudi rights group puts Palestine at top of its agenda

May 17, 2017 at 10:55 am

Palestinian children huddle by the fire inside a makeshift home as living conditions deteriorate in Gaza (Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency)

Saudi yesterday inaugurated the new headquarters of a human rights commission which placed Palestine at the top of its priorities.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir who attended the inauguration of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), a branch of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said: “[The] kingdom [is] honoured to be home to the headquarters of the OIC.”

IPHRC is an expert body with advisory capacity established by OIC as one of the principal organs working independently in the area of human rights. It was established by the OIC in 2011.

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Executive Director of the IPHRC, Marghoob Saleem Butt, told Arab News that the organisation “provides guidance on all human rights issues to the Council of Foreign Ministers”.

The commission consists of 18 independent human rights experts from OIC member countries.

When they are elected, they serve in their personal capacity so it is no longer an intergovernmental commission,

Butt said.

Reports are presented with recommendations to the council to review and take the needed action. Among the reports were the negative impacts on sanctions, Islamophobia and human rights issues in central Africa.

#HumanRights

Butt said that the commission has “human rights in Palestine at the top of its priorities, as well as the rights of women and children, and the right to development”.

The IPHRC was officially launched during the 38th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in Astana, Kazakhstan, in June 2011.