In 2009, the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) released a 300-page study showing that Israel is practicing colonialism and apartheid. The HSRC commissioned an international team of scholars and practitioners of international public law from South Africa, the United Kingdom, Israel and the West Bank to conduct the study. It represented 15 months of research. The project was suggested in the January 2007 report by eminent South African jurist John Dugard, in his capacity as special rapporteur to the United Nations Human Rights Council.