Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman: OHCHR's Release of Database of Companies Operating in Palestinian Territories is Unacceptable

"U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement after the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a report including a database of businesses operating in the Palestinian territories:

'It is unacceptable that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has released this incredibly biased report which is in direct support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction movement against our close ally Israel. Previously, I have spoken to High Commissioner Bachelet about this matter and believed that the OHCHR had already fulfilled its mandate by previous actions.

'Today's release of the report is a political move made by the high commissioner. This action is only further evidence that the OHCHR, which is supposed to be the lead human rights office in the United Nations, is overly politicized and focusing a disproportionate amount of time and resources on Israel. Instead, OHCHR should focus on the real human rights crises in the world such as the ongoing slaughter of civilians in Syria.

'The high commissioner should immediately redact the report and to take no further actions on this database.'"