UN adds 61 firms to West Bank settlements blacklist over rights violations
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The UN human rights office has added 61 companies to a database of businesses it says are involved in violations of Palestinian human rights through ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The update brings the total number of companies on the database to 214, with the vast majority based in Israel. The companies are based across 11 countries. Five of the 158 companies included in last year’s list were removed in the latest update.
The database was first published in 2020 following a vote by the UN Human Rights Council. It does not have the power to compel companies to take action and is primarily intended to identify businesses with ties to Israeli settlements.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the report was a reminder that companies have human rights responsibilities and should conduct due diligence to avoid involvement in human rights violations or abuses.
The UN office said the companies had been informed of their inclusion and given an opportunity to respond.
Israel “categorically rejects” the publication. Its diplomatic mission in Geneva said the database was intended to blacklist businesses that had committed no wrongdoing and called on countries not to support what it described as an attempt to blacklist Israeli firms.
It remains unclear what financial impact inclusion in the database has had on the companies.
Earlier this month, Britain banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying “settler terrorists” were carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. France and Canada announced similar measures.