Help End the Hunger Strike of Khader Adnan

Source:15 Feb - http://richardfalk.wordpress.com/

I am publishing here my press release of today expressing urgent concern about the fate of Khader Adnan, a Palestinian activist, who is near death resulting from his continuing hunger strike that expresses his refusal to accept the humiliating conditions of imprisonment without charges and accompanied by an Israeli court approved denial of visitation rights to his wife. Please do whatever you can to exert pressure to obtain the immediate release of Mr. Adnan, and to make the world aware that Israel is responsible for respecting his rights and protecting his wellbeing. The text below is released under the auspices of the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, and prepared in my role as Special Rapporteur for Occcupied Palestine of the Human Rights Council.

Israel: UN rights expert appeals for international help for a Palestinian
prisoner on hunger strike

CAIRO / GENEVA (15 February 2012) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied
since 1967, Richard Falk, expressed his urgent and extreme concern
regarding the situation of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, and urged
the international community to intervene on his behalf.

“I call on the international community, especially States with close
relations with Israel, to urge the Israeli Government to fulfill its
responsibilities under international law, most urgently with regard to Mr.
Adnan,” the human rights expert said. Mr. Adnan, whose life is reportedly
in jeopardy, has maintained a hunger strike for 60 days in response to the
humiliating circumstances of his imprisonment without charges by the
Government of Israel.

“In view of the emergency of his situation, the Government of Israel must
take immediate and effective action to safeguard Mr. Adnan’s life, while
upholding his rights,” stressed the Special Rapporteur, who is currently
undertaking a fact-finding mission to the region.

Mr. Falk also called on the Government of Israel to respect its legal
obligations pertaining to the several thousand Palestinians it has
imprisoned. “The improper treatment of thousands of Palestinian prisoners
by the Government of Israel should be of great concern to the
international community, and it is a problem that I am paying close
attention to in the context of my ongoing visit to the region.”

The Special Rapporteur will convene a press conference at the end of his
regional visit, on 20 February in Amman, and will submit a full report on
his mission to the Human Rights Council in June 2012.

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In 2008, the UN Human Rights Council designated Richard Falk (United
States of America) as the fifth Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The mandate
was originally established in 1993 by the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Learn more about the mandate and work of the Special Rapporteur:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/countries/ps/mandate/index.htm

OHCHR Country Page – Occupied Palestinian Territories:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/MENARegion/Pages/PSIndex.aspx

OHCHR Country Page – Israel:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/MENARegion/Pages/ILIndex.aspx

ENDS

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