Indonesia Urges UN to Speed Up Israel Human Rights Inquiry
Jakarta. Indonesia has urged the United Nations Human Rights Council this week to speed up the appointment of a team of international war crime investigators to probe reports of human rights violations by Israeli forces.
In May, the council voted to send a team after earlier reports of deadly shootings of peaceful Palestinian protesters in Gaza.
Israeli forces have allegedly killed more than a hundred Palestinians and injured thousands of others since protests began on March 30.
Though the resolution has been adopted, the council has yet to form the commission of inquiry, according to Hasan Kleib, Indonesia's permanent representative at the United Nations in Geneva.
"Israel's policy cannot be tolerated; from illegal settlements, building a separation wall and limiting the rights of Palestinians: they are obstacles to the realization of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital," Hasan said in a statement received by the Jakarta Globe.
He added that Israel's policy is a blatant violation of international human rights law and a series of UN resolutions, including those adopted by the Security Council.
"Indonesia will continue to condemn Israel's policy and actions, not only because they are wrong and illegal, but also because they are deadly," Hasan said.
He also responded to requests from other member states to remove the issue of Palestine from discussions at the council and said restoring the rights of Palestinians will require collective commitments from the international community.
"Indonesia will not back away from its support of continuing discussions on the issue of Palestine at the Human Rights Council," Hasan said.
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