Palestinian human rights group urges EU to pressure Israel to respect international laws

Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)

Brussels, Dec 12, IRNA -- A Palestinian human rights group is urging the European Union to be more persistent with the Zionist regime to ensure that Israel is implementing international laws.

Randa Siniora, general director of the Ramallah-based Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, told IRNA in an interview that the "EU is in complicity with Israel."

"When they do not insist on respect of international law, when they go out of their way to give privilege treatment to Israelis, they are in complicity with Israel."

"The EU has to be more persistent and to ensure that Israel implements international law and European Community laws," she said.

Al-Haq was formed in 1979 to support the rule of law and respect for human rights. Siniora was in Brussels as part of a delegation of Palestinian and Israeli human rights activists to meet representatives of EU institutions.

The delegation presented a report prepared by the Euro- Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), a network of 80 human rights organizations in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

"We have a very difficult situation. We have house demolitions, a lot of violations including collective punishment which we see as a war crime because Palestinians are being punished for acts they have not committed," she said.

Asked to comment on the chances of a settlement after the death of PA chairman Yasser Arafat, Siniora replied: "The people are exaggerating a little bit the issue."

"The problem is that Israel is not interested in compromise. It wants to continue its policies of expansion and annexation of Palestinian lands and water resources and continue its policy of extrajudicial killings, execution of Palestinians.

"The international community is very hopeful. Palestinian people living under occupation do not see any change on the ground," contended Siniora.

In its report, the EMHRN says Israel is violating the human rights of Palestinians and discriminating against the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel.

"The European Union in its relations with Israel facilitates these continued violations and thereby disrespects its own human rights obligations and commitments," it notes.

The report was released in view of the EU-Israel Association Council meeting scheduled to be held on Monday (tomorrow) in Brussels.

The report, titled "A Human Rights Review on the EU and Israel -- Relating Commitments to Actions, 2003-2004," calls on the EU to urge Israel to accept the creation of a joint EU-Israel Committee on Human Rights.