Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality
פורום דו-קיום בנגב לשוויון אזרחי
منتدى التعايش السلمي في النقب من أجل المساواة المدنية

NCF report on Civil and Political Rights

04.05.2012

In late April, NCF submitted a report outlining Israel’s violations of the rights of its Bedouin citizens under the United Nations’ International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Among other things, the report detailed the state’s failure to ensure adequate Bedouin representation in government office and to hold elections in the Abu Basma Regional Council. The report also outlined Israel’s use of legal mechanisms to legitimize the appropriation of Bedouin land, and its push to implement the destructive Prawer-Amidror Plan, which would forcibly transfer 30,000 Bedouin against their will and cut the community off from its indigenous cultural traditions.

“There was no consultation process with the Bedouin community regarding the formulation of the Prawer-Amidror Plan,” the report states. “Any implementation plan that is forcefully and unilaterally imposed upon this already disadvantaged community will only further undermine the delicate social fabric of the Negev and inflame Arab-Jewish relations.”

The UN Human Rights Committee is expected to discuss the list of issues included in the report in July. It will then request a response from the Israeli state. To read the full NCF report, click here.