Pillay: The siege on Gaza is illegal and must be ended

[ 05/06/2010 - 05:26 PM ]

KAMPALA, (PIC)-- Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip is illegal and should be lifted, and renewed her call for an investigation into the massacre committed by Israel last Monday against international sympathizers on board the Freedom Flotilla vessels, upon which dozens were left dead and wounded .

Pillay said at a news conference on Saturday in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, where she is taking part in a fact-finding mission for human rights, "International humanitarian law prohibits starvation of civilians as a war tactic, and prohibits the imposition of collective punishment against civilians," reminding the UN Security Coucnil member states that the siege on Gaza is illegal and should be ended.

When asked if the Security Council is obliged to refer the situation in Gaza to the International Criminal Court, Pillay, a former judge of the International Criminal Court, noted that "the Council imposed sanctions in the past and referred the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan to the International Criminal Court."

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