February 2005

IMPORTANT LEGAL ISSUE FOR PALESTINIANS RECOGNISED BY
U.N.

A UN General Assembly resolution in July demanding that Israel demolish the fence, as the International Court of Justice ordered, also asked Annan to establish a register of damage caused by its construction for possible future claims and legal action.

Israel has gone ahead with construction of the fence, but decided to alter the route of a 32-kilometer stretch of the barrier near Jerusalem, which the Supreme Court ruled was causing too much hardship on the local Palestinian population.

Annan sent a letter to the General Assembly president on Tuesday setting out a framework for the register and the next steps in its creation. UN associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who announced that the letter had been sent, did not disclose its contents.But the United Nations, in a background note, said the registry's establishment and operation would require Israeli cooperation, which "we look forward to."

The register, as envisioned by Annan, would be based in the territories "so that it will be close to the people who will be submitting their damage claims for inclusion in the register," the note said.
Details on staffing, size and cost remain to be worked out but Annan proposed that the registry office be financed from contributions by all 191 UN member states.The board that will oversee the register will determine how damage claims should be submitted, and all information will be made public, the UN note said."The purpose of the register is not to adjudicate claims of damage but to collect them for possible future adjudication and compensation," it said, adding that a future compensation mechanism would be responsible for deciding on the legitimacy of claims and putting a value on them.

The United Nations said the delay in announcing the framework for the register was due to time-consuming consultation and review by the UN legal and political departments.