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Article

30 Oct 2013

Author:
UN News Centre

Deals linked to settlements in occupied territories could be ‘criminal,’ UN expert warns (Israel & Palestine)

An independent United Nations human rights expert...warned that financial institutions and real estate companies involved with housing settlements in occupied Palestinian territory – which are considered illegal under international law – may be held criminally accountable...[T]he Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, reiterated that the settlements are unlawful according to the Fourth Geneva Convention. He said that his office has been trying to inform companies, among them the European banking group Dexia and the United States-based real estate company Re/Max, that continuing their practices in the territories could be “problematic.” It was essential, Mr. Falk stressed, to encourage corporations to withdraw their profit-making activities from the settlements. He noted that the Government of the Netherlands has discouraged investments by Dutch companies in or servicing the settlements in the West Bank...Falk...outlined a model of legal analysis to assess the probability of liability, including international criminal liability, for corporate complicity in breaches of international law related to illegal settlements. [refers to Royal HaskoningDH]