EU foreign ministers must use their upcoming meeting with Nikolai Mladenov, director-general of the Board of Peace (BoP) and "High Representative" for Gaza, to ensure that Palestinians' rights are among the board's highest priorities, Amnesty International urged in a statement Feb. 23.

"The 'Board of Peace' is a dangerous assault on international law, a mechanism designed to bypass the UN, weaken international justice institutions, and entrench the power dynamics that have long enabled Israel's unlawful occupation, apartheid, and ongoing genocide in Gaza," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, senior director for research and advocacy at Amnesty International.

Guevara-Rosas added: "By sidelining accountability and marginalizing Palestinians, this mechanism erases the centrality of victims and their rights, while normalizing the very power dynamics that have enabled Israel’s unlawful occupation, apartheid, and its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza to continue with impunity… Any EU engagement that does not place Palestinians' rights at its core risks complicity in violations, which are [more] likely to occur if this fundamentally flawed mechanism is not urgently made rights-compliant and aligned with international law."

Guevara-Rosas further urged: "The EU and its member states must be absolutely clear: this body is no substitute for the UN, the international human rights framework, or the global justice system painstakingly built over decades to uphold universal values, cooperation, and equality."

On Jan, 22, US President Donald Trump ratified the Charter of the Board of Peace, establishing the board as an official international organization. Trump serves as the chairman, with no mechanism for succession. Last November, the UN Security Council endorsed the BoP in Resolution 2803, as an international entity to maintain peace and security in Gaza, develop its infrastructure, disarm militants, and establish a viable Palestinian Authority.

Notably, the BoP Charter does not actually have any mention of Gaza, and Israeli news reports indicate that the US envisions the BoP resolving other global conflicts. Ali Khan, emeritus professor at the Washburn University School of Law, argues that "the BoP's expanded scope in the Charter conflicts with Resolution 2803 and diverts attention from the work needed in Gaza to Trump's self-authorizing roving agenda to settle wars."

From JURIST, Feb. 23. Used with permission. Internal links added.