QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED ARAB
TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE
Note verbale dated 28 March 2002 from the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations Office
at Geneva addressed to the secretariat of the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights
The Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations Geneva presents its compliments to the secretariat of the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights and encloses herewith a letter of 28 March 2002 to Mr. Jakubowski, Chairperson of the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights, concerning the suicide bombing of 27 March 2002.
The Permanent Mission of Israel requests that this document be circulated without delay as an official document* of the fifty-eighth session of the Commission of Human Rights under agenda item 8.
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*Reproduced as received, in English only.
Annex
Mission Permanente d'Israël
auprès de l'Office des Nations Unies
et des Organisations Internationales à Geneve
Mr. Krzysztof Jakubowski
Chairperson
58th Commission on Human Rights
Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10
Geneva 28 March 2002
Dear Mr. Jakubowski,
With deep sorrow we must inform you today, on this holy Jewish holiday about a revolting crime that was committed last night while people all over Israel were celebrating the Passover. At 7:30 P.M. on Wednesday evening, a Palestinian suicide bomber walked into the dining room of the Park Hotel in the coastal town of Netanya, where a large number of people were participating in the Passover service, and detonated an explosive device. Nineteen people were killed and over 100 were wounded, 23 seriously.
The Hamas took responsibility for the attack. The group identified the bomber as Abdel-Basset Odeh, a member of its military wing, the Iz a Din al-Kassam Brigades. Odeh had been on Israel's wanted list for four years. Repeated appeals to the Palestinian Authority to arrest the suspect were flagrantly ignored.
Since the arrival of the American Envoy, General Zinni, to the area, Israel has made every effort to ensure that his mission was successful. The Palestinian Authority and Chairman Arafat, however, failed to take any substantial steps to halt the Palestinian terror. Therefore, they are to be held responsible for this terrible crime.
The perpetrator and those who were behind this revolting crime have lost all sense of humanity and Israel will not rest until they are brought to justice.
Israel calls upon the international community to make clear to the Palestinian Authority and its leader, the gravity of this situation and the difficult consequences it entails, and to ensure that the Palestinian Authority takes every possible step to prevent planned acts of terror about which we have been informed.
Sincerely yours, Tuvia Israeli Deputy Permanent Representative |
Document Type: Letter, Note verbale
Document Sources: Commission on Human Rights
Country: Israel
Subject: Agenda Item, Casualties, Incidents, Palestine question
Publication Date: 28/03/2002