GENEVA (31 January 2018) – The UN Human Rights Office on Wednesday issued a report detailing its work on producing a
database of business enterprises engaged in certain, specific activities in the occupied Palestinian territory that are
either explicitly linked to Israeli settlements or form part of processes that “enable and support the establishment,
expansion and maintenance of Israeli residential communities beyond the Green Line.”
The UN Human Rights Council mandated the Office in March 2016 to produce a database of all business enterprises engaged
in specific activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, in consultation with the
Working Group on business and human rights, recalling the illegality of the settlements under international law.*
The Human Rights Council resolution followed the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem which, in 2013, found that business enterprises had “directly and indirectly, enabled, facilitated and profited from the
construction and growth of the settlements.” The Fact-Finding Mission’s report provided a list of 10 activities that are
either explicitly linked to the settlements or enable and support their establishment, expansion and maintenance.
The report details the strict and complex methodology used in carrying out the Human Rights Council’s mandate. The UN
Human Rights Office reviewed information that was publicly available or received from a variety of sources about an
initial 307 companies. From these, 192 companies were screened in after excluding those that were not covered by the
mandate, no longer engaged in the 10 listed activities or about which there were insufficient facts to support the
allegations made. In some of the cases, further research revealed 14 additional business entities relevant to the
companies that were screened in, including parent companies and their subsidiaries, resulting in a total of 206
companies that were screened in out of a total of 321 reviewed by the end of 2017. The majority of these companies are
domiciled in Israel or the settlements (143), with the second largest group located in the United States (22). The
remainder are domiciled in 19 other countries.
To date, given the limited resources available, the Office has contacted 64 of these companies, informing them of the
listed activities that they appeared to be engaged in. The Office is considering the responses received to date and
continues to work on making determinations regarding those companies’ involvement in the listed activities. Once it has
been in touch with all 206 companies, and subject to its determinations, the Office expects to release the names of all
those companies engaged in listed activities.
Throughout the process, the Office has consulted the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and held extensive
discussions with States, civil society, think tanks, academics and others.
“The violations of human rights associated with the settlements are pervasive and devastating, reaching every facet of
Palestinian life,” the report recalls. “Owing to settlement development and infrastructure, Palestinians suffer from
restrictions on freedom of religion, movement and education; their rights to land and water; access to livelihoods and
their right to an adequate standard of living; their rights to family life; and many other fundamental human rights.”
“Businesses play a central role in furthering the establishment, maintenance and expansion of Israeli settlements,” the
report adds, stressing that as part of the due diligence process for companies seeking to operate in a complex
environment like the occupied Palestinian territory, “business enterprises may need to consider whether it is possible
to engage in such an environment in a manner that respects human rights.”
Considering the weight of the international legal consensus concerning the illegal nature of the settlements themselves,
as laid out in Human Rights Council resolution 31/36, and the systemic and pervasive nature of the negative human rights
impact caused by them, the report notes that “it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which a company could engage in
listed activities in a way that is consistent with the Guiding Principles and international law.”**
The report also challenges the explanations put forward by companies involved in the listed activities that the
businesses provide jobs to Palestinian families and help to support the Palestinian economy. It states that the presence
of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory in fact serves to depress the Palestinian economy and reduce
opportunities for Palestinian businesses to thrive, as well as having a direct effect on the job market. The report also
emphasizes that the corporate responsibility to respect human rights exists over and above compliance with national laws
and regulations. The Guiding Principles require businesses operating in conflict-affected areas – which include areas
under occupation – to conduct enhanced due diligence, which entails taking active steps to identify and assess any
actual or potential adverse human rights impacts as a result of business relationships. They stipulate that such
companies should be prepared to “accept any consequences – reputational, financial or legal – of the continuing
connection.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged all businesses contacted by the UN Human Rights Office
in relation to its mandate under Human Rights Council resolution 31/36 to cooperate with the Office, with a view to
engaging in constructive dialogue.
“I am satisfied, given the resource constraints and the unprecedented nature of such a request from the UN Human Rights
Council, that significant progress has been made in the Office’s efforts to operationalize the Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights,” High Commissioner Zeid said. “I urge all sides to avoid misrepresenting the contents of this
report, which has been produced in good faith on the basis of the mandate laid down by the Human Rights Council. We hope
that our work in consolidating and communicating the information in the database will assist States and businesses in
complying with their obligations and responsibilities under international law.”