HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEEPLY DISMAYED OVER ISRAELI ATTACK IN NABLUS

31 July 2001



United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson today expressed deep dismay over the escalation of violence in the occupied Palestinian territories following an Israeli attack in the town of Nablus which left at least eight dead, including two children.

«This daily violation of the right to life must stop », said Mrs. Robinson, appealing to both sides. « The violence will not lead to a resolution of the conflict, but it does cause more suffering and makes the entire situation even more dangerous ».

Recalling her visit to the area following the Fifth Special Session of the Commission on Human Rights late last year, Mrs. Robinson asked how many lives, Palestinian and Israeli, could have been saved if her recommendation for the dispatch of international monitors to the area had been implemented.

« Upon returning from the area in November, I recommended that every effort should be made to explore the feasibility of establishing an international monitoring presence in the occupied Palestinian territories, a call echoed recently by the G-8 in Genoa », the High Commissioner said.



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