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Friday 7 December 2001
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Israel condemned by 114 countries
By Fiona Fleck in Geneva
(Filed: 06/12/2001)
MORE than 100 signatories of the Geneva Convention gathered in Switzerland yesterday to reprimand Israel for "indiscriminate and disproportionate violence" against Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories.
The 114 states - including Britain and the rest of the European Union - issued a joint declaration urging Israel to abide by international laws enshrined in the 1949 accord seeking to protect civilians in wartime or under military occupation.
It was the first such declaration by signatory states since the Convention was signed in 1949, as a similar session was adjourned after 17 minutes in July 1999. Israel and its close allies, the United States and Australia - which are also signatories of the Convention - boycotted the session.
The declaration expressed deep concern about a "deterioration of the humanitarian situation" in Palestinian areas, condemned Jewish settlements there as "illegal" and urged Israel to refrain from "grave breaches" such as "unlawful deportation", "wilful killing" and "tor- ture".
Yaakov Levy, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, criticised the declaration as "one-sided".
He said it contained "unsubstantiated allegations" and should have condemned acts of terrorism against Israel.
Related reports
Israel gives Arafat 'one last chance'
External links
Statement by Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Conference of High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention [5 Dec '01] - United Nations
UN
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