OIC secretary general denounces Israel's crimes in occupied territories as war crimes

Secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), Abdelouahed Belkziz, denounced Monday at the 57th session of the UN human rights commission, as "war crimes" the aggression acts perpetrated by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The head of the Jeddah-based pan-Islamic organization deplored the tragedy of the Palestinian people who are targeted by ruthless attempts to deprive them from their basic rights, destroy their infrastructure, steal their possessions and massacre their children.

The OIC chief cited, as evidence, the report submitted by the UN high commissioner for human rights, Mary Robinson, following a field visit to the territories in November 2000. He added that reports by Amnesty International -February 20001- and the Red Cross and testimonies of other human rights organizations are edifying as to the seriousness of abuses committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.

For Belkziz, the most serious breaches are the arbitrary killing of civilian leaders of the Palestinian society and the use of weapons against unarmed civilians. He called these practices state terrorism and war crimes.