Kohona notes Gaza abuses

18 June 2010 01:05 pm - 19 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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The UN Special Committee on Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories, led by Ambassador Palitha Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York, expressed serious concerns about the human rights situation in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank -including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan.

“Victims of the systematic and often arbitrary restrictions on human rights and basic freedoms have the right to see justice prevail,” the UN quoted Ambassador Palitha T.B. Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York, and Chairman of the Committeeas saying at the end of a 13-day fact-finding visit to Cairo, Amman and Damascus. “Violations must cease,” he added.

“The testimonies that we have heard attest to a failure to address the long-standing pattern of serious violations of human rights,” Ambassador Kohona noted. In the past two weeks, the three-member Committee has heard the testimonies of dozens of witnesses from across the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied Syrian Golan, recounting their first-hand experiences of life under occupation.

Since the Committee’s establishment, the Government of Israel has failed to accommodate its requests to visit the occupied territories. The Committee has benefited from the cooperation of representatives from the Governments of Egypt, Jordan and Syria, whose countries the Committee visited.

This year’s mission began just days after the Israeli military interception, in international waters, of a flotilla of ships carrying aid for Gaza that resulted in 9 deaths and scores of injuries; and one-and-a-half years after the December 2008 / January 2009 Israeli military offensive on Gaza, known as ‘Operation Cast Lead’.

The Special Committee also met with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Jordan and Syria, and with the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, and exchanged views on the latest developments in the occupied territories.

The Special Committee will present a mission report to the UN General Assembly in November 2010, with its observations and recommendations to improve the human rights situation for those whose lives are affected by occupation. (Daily Mirror online)

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Comments - 19

Friday, 18 June 2010 04:47 PM

Mr. Kohona, well done! SL is proud of your diplomacy.

Saturday, 19 June 2010 09:57 AM

ohhhhh , so u say the kfirs won the war? IF not for Kfirs we would have purchased MIG's or some other from China.

Saturday, 19 June 2010 09:29 AM

mind your own business kohona Israel knows what to do ...

Saturday, 19 June 2010 08:25 AM

UN together with US and UK are trying to chop pork on pig's back.

Friday, 18 June 2010 09:56 PM

Kohona did not elect himself to be on the panel to investigate Israel. ... And for those calling him to 'clean his own house,' I guess he would be more than happy to do that as well, if called upon by the UN to be on the panel to investigate SL.

Friday, 18 June 2010 08:13 PM

Put it into practice!

Friday, 18 June 2010 08:09 PM

Kohona, first 'clean-up your own yard' before criticizing another's!

Friday, 18 June 2010 07:38 PM

What a hypocrite!

Friday, 18 June 2010 05:25 PM

(Oh, but if NOT for the Kfirs, there would be no V-Day celebrations!) Why don't we just learn to mind our own 'house'!

Friday, 18 June 2010 05:09 PM

While they point one finger at us, hundreds are pointing at them!

Friday, 18 June 2010 01:15 PM

Mr. Kohona, why don't you turn the spotlight on to your country first?????????

Friday, 18 June 2010 03:25 PM

please talk about srilanka hman rights in your home.

Friday, 18 June 2010 02:51 PM

Yes Thomas... thats how things work in the world...
Loook at the US/Israel committing HRW in Iraq, Afg, Palastine,ets and calling Iran, SL HR violators.

Friday, 18 June 2010 02:45 PM

Who told that we are living in glass house, very very minority of the country like you say for that.

Friday, 18 June 2010 02:24 PM

Appoint this fellow as the UN human rights commisionor and send him to investigate

Friday, 18 June 2010 02:10 PM

please clean your own back yard..

Friday, 18 June 2010 02:10 PM

What an irony, a country ( S L ) which is accused of HRM violations by the UN is involved in fact finding of violations in Gaza within Isreal.

Friday, 18 June 2010 01:36 PM

The kettle calling the pot black?

Friday, 18 June 2010 01:34 PM

Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

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Kohona notes Gaza abuses

Comments - 19

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