Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Israel Boycott's UPR Process

According to an article in the NY Times today, Israel became the first country to boycott the UN's Universal Periodic Review process. Rather than setting a negative precedent, the move is being seen as a response to perceived bias.

Israel’s decision reflects its longstanding frustration with the council’s perceived anti-Israeli bias, diplomats said. Over half the resolutions passed by the council since it started work in 2006 have targeted Israel, which is also the only country to feature as a standing item on the council’s agenda.     
  
One of the many items under review over the past decade has been Israel's accounting of water access. Israel counts only residents within Israel proper and settler's in the OPT, excluding Palestinians when accounting for access to water statistics.

Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/world/europe/israel-to-boycott-un-human-rights-review.html?ref=global-home&_r=0