-Caveat Lector- * Jenin Refugee Camp: Amnesty International calls for immediate international humanitarian assistance
* Jenin: Access denied to Amnesty International Forensic Expert - legal action considered * Israel/Occupied Territories: Amnesty International calls on the UN Security Council to immediately deploy a team of independent investigators to Jenin _____________________________________________________ Jenin Refugee Camp: Amnesty International calls for immediate international humanitarian assistance AI Index: MDE 15/052/2002 Publish date: 17/04/2002 http://web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/1C8E8F5F8969B2A280256B9E0046214E?OpenDocument AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Latest Press Releases Jenin Refugee Camp: Amnesty International calls for immediate international humanitarian assistance AI Index: MDE 15/052/2002 Publish date: 17/04/2002 Speaking from inside Jenin Refugee Camp, Amnesty International delegate Javier Zuniga said, "This is one of the worst scenes of devastation I have ever witnessed. It is almost impossible to conceive that what was once a town is now a lunar landscape. There is a real possibility that people are still alive under the rubble of their former homes, one of our colleagues from a local human rights organisation received a phone call from a family of 10 trapped below ground and asking for help, yet there is no evidence of concerted efforts to search for and rescue survivors." Amnesty International is calling for immediate and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance wherever it is needed. "If this was an earthquake the international community would be asked for and give urgent help. It is shocking that the authorities have not asked for help and that the international community is not offering it. Let this be the wake up call that help is needed now to save what life there is left." Another member of the Amnesty International Delegation Professor Derrick Pounder this morning gained access to the Jenin Government Hospital. Professor of Forensic Medicine at Dundee University, Professor Pounder is now conducting autopsies to clarify the cause of death of those bodies in the hospital. Scores more bodies are believed to remain in the refugee camp, mainly in the rubble of bulldozed houses. Amnesty International had been denied access to the hospital but this was changed this morning. Access to the camp had also been denied but the check points were removed this morning allowing limited access. \ENDS public document **************************************** For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW web : http://www.amnesty.org Amnesty International is impartial and independent of any government, political persuasion or religious creed. © Amnesty International ============================ Jenin: Access denied to Amnesty International Forensic Expert - legal action considered AI Index: MDE 15/050/2002 Publish date: 16/04/2002 http://web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/D7E166CB6340A28E80256B9D005203D8?OpenDocument AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Latest Press Releases Jenin: Access denied to Amnesty International Forensic Expert - legal action considered AI Index: MDE 15/050/2002 Publish date: 16/04/2002 Derrick Pounder, Professor of Forensic Medicine at Dundee University, currently on mission with Amnesty International, has been denied access to Jenin refugee camp and Jenin Government Hospital. The only forensic pathologist in the vicinity, Professor Pounder had sought access to the camp in order to begin gathering vital evidence about the fate of those who died in Jenin. The Amnesty International delegation had gone to Jenin because of reports that a major humanitarian and human rights disaster was occurring in the camp with thousands of people still trapped without food or water in an area flattened and littered with debris and decomposing bodies. "There are two urgent tasks. The first is the humanitarian task of gathering evidence to identify the dead so that the bodies can be given to the families. The second is to obtain forensic evidence about the causes and circumstances of death which will clarify what has been happening in Jenin camp" said Professor Pounder. "International human rights and humanitarian law require that forensic investigations are conducted in this respect. The refusal to allow us to conduct or even to assist in enabling others to conduct such investigations is very serious and gives rise to questions about the authorities' motives." There are only a small number of forensic experts in Israel and among Palestinians, none of whom are in Jenin or the camp and Amnesty International is concerned that the longer the bodies deteriorate the less hard facts and objective evidence will be available about how these people came to their deaths. Amnesty International, together with other organisations including Adalah, the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, is considering legal action in Israel to ensure that access to Jenin refugee camp and hospital is granted. The organisation also condemned the authorities' refusal to allow adequate help into the camp to deal with the survivors, including many still trapped inside collapsed houses. \ENDS public document **************************************** For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW web : http://www.amnesty.org Amnesty International is impartial and independent of any government, political persuasion or religious creed. © Amnesty International ============================ Israel/Occupied Territories: Amnesty International calls on the UN Security Council to immediately deploy a team of independent investigators to Jenin AI Index: MDE 15/049/2002 Publish date: 16/04/2002 http://web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/BCFAF390AA30EDE980256B9C005E0836?OpenDocument AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Latest Press Releases Israel/Occupied Territories: Amnesty International calls on the UN Security Council to immediately deploy a team of independent investigators to Jenin AI Index: MDE 15/049/2002 Publish date: 16/04/2002 Amnesty International, whose delegates are now carrying out investigations in Jenin, called on the Security Council to instruct the UN Secretary-General to deploy, without delay, an authoritative team of international experts to investigate the alleged human rights abuses that took place in Jenin within the past twelve days. "According to the principles of international law, when deaths have occurred in disputed circumstances there must be an impartial investigation with the cooperation of all sides," said Amnesty International. "We are calling for international experts to be deployed and permitted to enter Jenin NOW with a mandate to carry out a prompt, independent and thorough investigation and to report their findings publicly." Amnesty International said that an adequately resourced independent international investigation team should be composed of persons, known for their impartiality and integrity, with proven expertise in the conduct of criminal and forensic investigations. It should include experts in the field of forensics, ballistics, human rights and humanitarian law. The team should also include people who have proven expertise in the protection and support of victims and witnesses, including women and children. The team should report publicly as soon as possible. In order for the team to carry out its functions both sides must cooperate fully, and grant the team unimpeded access to people, places and documents said the organization. The agreement before Israel's High Court of Justice allowing access to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which, like every other organization, was unable to gain access to Jenin after 3 April was "a first step". The agreement came in answer to petitions demanding that the Israeli Defence Forces do not bury Palestinian bodies. The organization also welcomed the resolution of the UN Commission on Human Rights on 5 April mandating the High Commissioner for Human Rights to lead a mission to the Occupied Territories and to report her findings to the Commission. However, the Israeli Government has not yet agreed to this mission. Amnesty International believes a specific inquiry, with full powers and resources to an conduct in-depth investigations into the allegations concerning Jenin, is urgently required based on the reports received by its delegates in the region. \ENDS public document **************************************** For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW web : http://www.amnesty.org Amnesty International is impartial and independent of any government, political persuasion or religious creed. © Amnesty International <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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