Israel says, it has decided not to cooperate with Human Rights Council’s fact finding mission on flotilla issue in view of what it called the Council’s biased, politicized and extremist approach. Israeli Foreign Ministry statement has been issued after an investigative report from the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva said that Israel's military interception of a flotilla of aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip in May was 'clearly unlawful' and violent. The report issued last night said there was clear evidence to support prosecutions because the Israeli military action amounted to willful killing, torture or inhuman treatments, which are crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel has said that Tel Aviv is conducting a separate investigation with independent panel of international observers on the issue. Israel had justified the military action as a means to maintain its arms blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the militant Hamas Islamist movement. The fact-finding mission was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to find out whether the international law and human rights were breached. It conducted interviews with over 100 witnesses in Geneva, London, Istanbul and Amman. But Israel rejected the mission's request for interviews.
News On AIR | September 23, 2010 2:00 PM
Israel not to cooperate with Human Rights Council on flotilla issue