Situation in the OPT – Letter by PLO – Letter from Mauritania

QUESTION OF PALESTINE

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE
ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS
OF THE POPULATION OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Letter dated 26 August 1988 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the

Permanent Mission of Mauritania to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

I have the honour, in my capacity as Chairman of the Group of Arab States for the month of August, to transmit herewith the letter in which the Deputy Permanent Observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the United Nations in New York draws your attention to the situation in the occupied territories of Palestine, which continues to deteriorate as a result of the machinations of the Israeli occupying authorities.

I should be grateful if you would have this letter circulated as an official document of the General Assembly under items 37 and 77 of the provisional agenda.

(Signed)  Kharass KANE

Chargé d'affaires a.i.

______________

     * A/43/150.

ANNEX

Letter dated 25 August 1988 from the Deputy Permanent Observer of

the Palestine Liberation Organization to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

I am instructed by the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization to bring the following to your attention.  On 17 August 1988, Israel deported four of the six Palestinians it had served with deportation notices on 1 August 1988; their names are:

1. Fathi Sheqaqeh, pharmacist from Rafah, Gaza, 38 years old.  Sheqaqeh has been in prison since 1980. Married.

2. Yusri Al Hams, restaurant owner from Rafah, Gaza, 38 years old.  Al Hams was arrested in March 1988 and had been under administrative detention in Ansar 3 detention center in the Negev.  Married.

3.  Ahmed Mustafa Mai'lek, student at the Gaza Islamic University, from Gaza City, 29 years old. Mai'lek was arrested in June 1988, and had been detained for 18 days in Ansar 2 detention center in Gaza, then moved to Gaza Central Prison.

4. Mohammed Abdallah Ismail Gharableh, from Gaza City, 42 years old, .  He was arrested in June 1988, and had been under administrative detention.

Deportation orders were issued on 17 August 1988 to 25 Palestinians from the occupied territories;  their names are as follows:

1. Hussein Hassan Barakeh, 32 years old, from Bani Suhailah.

2. Nabil Mohammed Tamus, 21 years old, from Gaza.

3. Fathi Mustapha Hajaj, 36 years old, from Bureij Camp.

4. Riad Wajih Kamel 'Ajur, 26 years old, from Gaza.

5. Abdullah Ayad Abu Samhadani, 38 years old, from Gaza.

6. Ayash Abdul Aziz Abu Sa'adi, 30 years old, from Jabalia camp.

7. Risk Mahmoud al-Bayari, 29 years old, from Gaza.

8. Mohammed Saadi Dukh, 30 years old, from Gaza.

9. Abdul Min'am Abu'Ataya, 33 years old, from Gaza.

10. Ata Mohammed Abu Karsh, 54 years old, from Shate camp.

11. Yusef Harb Oden, from Balatta camp.

12. 'Asam Amin Fattah Dibay, 29 years old, from Nablus.

13. Sirhan Otham Duwerat, 29years old, from Balatta camp.

14. Jamal Ibrahim Faraj, 25 years old, from Dheisheh camp.

15. Taysir Rajab Aruri, 43 years old, from al-Bireh.

16. Abdul Hamid Ismail al-Baba, 25 years old, from al-'Amari camp.

17. Oden Yusef Ma'ale, 30 years old, from Kufr Na'ameh.

18. Majed Andullah Labadi, 28 years old, from Abu Dis.

19. 'Akif Wahid Hamdallah, 27 years old, from Anabta.

20. Othman Mohammed Daoud, 27 years old, from Al-Bireh.

21. Mohammed AbdulJailil M'tur, 38 years old, from al-Bireh.

22. Masoud Othman Zaiter, 42 years old, from Nablus.

23. Bilal Issedine Shakahir, 36 years old, from Nablus.

24. Hani Mohammed Haloub, 28 years old, from Tulkarem.

25. Taysir Mohammad Saleh, 27 years old, from Balatta camp.

Again, the Palestine Liberation Organization would stress that these deportations are flagrant violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and numerous United Nations resolutions on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, in particular Security Council resolution 607 (1988) and 608 (1988).

In addition to the deportation and pending deportations of Palestinians from the occupied territories, the situation continue to deteriorate.  Israel continues to impose curfews by sealing off areas.  600,000 Palestinians were affected by the sealing off of Gala for several days. Nablus and the surrounding areas, including refugee camps in the West Bank, were also sealed off for several days, affecting 120,000 Palestinians.

The numbers of Palestinians killed and wounded by the Israeli occupation forces are increasing at an alarming rate.

On 14 August 1988 at 2 a.m. in the morning, Israeli occupation troops blew up three Palestinian homes in Jalazon refugee camp.  The homes belonged to Yussef Sharaqa, 35 years old, Auden Tabakhna, 26 years old, and Assad Mohammed, 24 years old.  Five families in the Jabalia refugee camp were served notice today by the Israeli occupation authorities that their homes will be blown up within 48 hours.

On 22 August 1988,  Hani Al-Shami, a Palestinian from the Jabalia refugee camp, was arrested by the Israeli occupation authorities. Al-Shami was beaten to death by his jailers.

The intensification of deportations, the sealing-off of large areas, the increase in the killing and wounding of Palestinians, the blowing-up of homes – all is part of war minister Rabin's new pre-emptive policies. Rabin has also declared that Palestinians who are members of popular committees will face 10 years' imprisonment or expulsion. This poses the danger of imprisonment or expulsion of the total Palestinian population under Israeli occupation, which translates into the transferring out of the Palestinian people from their homeland.

The situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is extremely grave and calls for immediate action by the international community.  In bringing the aforementioned to your attention, the Palestinine Liberation Organization requests that immediate and appropriate measures be taken to bring adequate pressure on Israel, the occupying Power, to ensure respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and Security Council resolution 605 (1987), 607 (1988) and 608 (1988).

(Signed) Dr. Riyad MANSOUR

Deputy Permanent Observer

Chargé d'affaires a.i.

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