Human rights in OPT/Israeli practices – PLO Memorandum/Note verbale from Iraq

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE
Note verbale dated 8 February 1988 from the Permanent Mission
of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Centre for Human Rights,
transmitting three communications from the Permanent Observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the United Nations Office at Geneva

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva presents its compliments to the Centre for Human Rights at Geneva and has the honour to transmit to it a document from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) with the request that it should be circulated as official document of the forty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights.

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Annex

LETTER DATED 8 FEBRUARY 1988 FROM THE PERMANENT OBSERVER FOR THE PALESTINE
LIBERATION ORGANIZATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA ADDRESSED TO
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE FORTY-FOURTH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

In the past few days, the Israeli occupation authorities have intensified their terror campaign against the Palestinian people in the Palestinian occupied territories. Israeli settlers, armed and backed by the army, are now actively participating in this aggression against the Palestinian people.

On the evening of Friday, 5 February 1988, Israeli settlers entered Salem village (near Nablus), kidnapped a number of Palestinian youths and took them to an unknown destination. Later, inhabitants of the village saw bulldozers of the Israeli army opening graves near the village. In the early morning, the inhabitants of the village found four of the kidnapped youths buried alive in these graves. They all suffered multiple fractures and were brought to Ariha hospital. The four youths are:

Hassan Mohammad Said Hamdan (aged 19)

Abdellatif Ahmad Eshtiya (aged 15)

Issam Shafiq Eshtiya (aged 20)

Zakaria Mohammad Said Hamdan (aged 20)

The other kidnapped youths are still missing.

Moreover, by the end of last week, 20 more Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip either miscarried or gave birth to stillborn babies, after being beaten up by Israeli soldiers. These cases join the 25 first cases already mentioned in our memorandum dated 27 January 1988 (see E/CN.4/1988/53 annex II):

1. Amina Abu Jabarah (aged 24) – El Breij camp

2. Khitam Al-Kafarnah (aged 18) – Beit Hanoun

3. Howeyda Jabar (aged 21) – Beit Lahya

4. Ibtissam Salem (aged 23) – Beit Hanoun

5. Aisha Al-Guga (aged 25) – Beach camp

6. Sana' Awad (aged 22) – El Nasr

7. Enshirah Galil (aged 20) – Jabalia

8. Awsal A1-Kafarnah (aged 28) – Belt Hanoun

9. Houda Abu Karsh (aged 35) – Gaza

10. Yousra Abu-Harb (aged 28) – Beach camp

11. Shifa Maarouf (aged 25) – Beit Lahya

12. Amina Abu Fandiya (aged 26) – Nuseirat camp

13. Fikriya Al-Samaki (aged 19) – Al-Sabra

14. Rida Abu Sukar (aged 23) – Gaza

15. Amal Al-Safi (aged 24) – El Breij

16. Ikram Al-Kurd (aged 19) – Jabalia

17. Ibtissam Shreir (aged 20) – El-Sabra

18. Khadijah Awad – Sheikh Radwan

19. Jawaher Nabil Al-Najar (aged 22) – Jabalia

20. Badria Sour (aged 40) – Beach camp

These tragic events constitute more acts of genocide, in accordance with articles II and III of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

We hereby, request you to consider the present memorandum as an official document of the forty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights.

(Signed) Nabil RAMLAWI
Director
Permanent Observer of the Palestine
Liberation Organization to the 
United Nations Office at Geneva

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