The Commission on Human Rights,

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 self­determination, and 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 self­determination,

Taking into consideration the provisions of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960,

Guided by the provisions of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in June 1993 (A/CONF.157/23), and in particular Part I, paragraphs 2 and 3, relating to the right to self­determination of all peoples and especially those subject to foreign occupation,

Recalling Security Council resolutions 183 (1963) of 11 December 1963 and 218 (1965) of 23 November 1965, which affirmed the interpretation of the principle of self­determination as laid down in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV),

Recalling also 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 self­determination without external interference and to the establishment of their independent State on their national soil, especially Assembly resolutions ES­7/2 of 29 July 1980 and 37/86 E of 20 December 1982,

Reaffirming its previous resolutions in this regard, including the latest, resolution 1997/4 of 26 March 1997,

Bearing in mind the continued reports and recommendations of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People submitted to the Security Council and the General Assembly,

Reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self­determination in accordance with 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 self­determination as an international principle and as a right of all peoples in the world, as it is a jus cogens in international law,

Recalling that the foreign occupation by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State constitutes an obstacle to and a grave violation of human rights according to Part I, paragraph 30, of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and an act of aggression and a crime against the peace and security of mankind according to General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974,

Affirming that the peace process, which aims to achieve a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, aims at the same time to enable the Palestinian people to achieve their national rights and, principally, their right to self­determination free of external intervention as a basic condition for establishing the long­sought peace,

1. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self­determination without external interference;

2. Calls upon Israel to comply with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, and to withdraw from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the other Arab territories which it has occupied since 1967 by military force, in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions, so as to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their universally recognized right to self­determination;

3. Requests the Secretary­General to transmit the present resolution to the Government of Israel and all other Governments, to distribute it on the widest possible scale and to make available to the Commission on Human Rights, prior to the convening of its fifty­fifth session, all information pertaining to the implementation of the present resolution by the Government of Israel;

4. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty­fifth session the item entitled "The right of peoples to self­determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation" and to consider the situation in occupied Palestine under that item, as a matter of high priority.

20th meeting
27 March 1998

[Adopted by a roll­call vote of 34 votes to 1, with 18 abstentions. See chap. VII.]