International Solidarity Movement Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.
by Amnesty International, December 10th
Open Letter from Amnesty International’s Secretary General to European Union leaders on human rights crisis in Israel and the Occupied Territories
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Irene Khan today called on European Union Heads of State and Government to urgently address the downward spiral of human rights abuses in Israel and the Occupied Territories.
In an open letter published on International Human Rights Day and ahead of next week’s meeting of the European Council (15 December), Irene Khan made a series of concrete recomendations including the deployment of international human rights monitors to the region.
Irene Khan is currently leading an Amnesty International mission to Israel and the Occupied Territories during which she has discussed human rights concerns with government officials and members of civil society. The letter’s recommendations are elaborated on in a briefing also published today, Israel and the Occupied Territories – Road to nowhere.
Amnesty International’s recommendations include:
* Deployment of an effective international human rights monitoring mechanism;
* The investigation and and prosecution through the excercise of universal jurisdiction of those responsible for crimes under international law;
* Immediate halting of the sale or transfer of weapons to all parties in the conflict;
* Concrete provisions to ensure the removal of Israeli settlements from the Occupied Territories, the dismantling of the fence/wall inside the West Bank, ending the closures and in the long term a fair solution to the refugee question.
For further information or to arrange an interview with Irene Khan, please call:
In Israel and the Occupied Territories: Eliane Drakopoulos on mobile +44 7778 472 109 or mobile: +972 (0)547 781 691 or Judit Arenas on mobile + 44 7778 472 188
Israeli media representatives please contact: Udi Gilad on mobile +972 54 4660300
In London, James Dyson on + 44 207 413 5831 or mobile + 44 7795 628 367
Further information :
For the latest blogs from the Amnesty International mission, please see: http://blogs.amnesty.org/blogs/israelot_dec06
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Click here for AP press coverage.
Two weeks ago Amnesty issued an action alert about the risks facing human rights defenders in Palestine following the assault on Swedish HRD Tove Johansson in Hebron.
