A spokesman for the Israeli Mission to the UN told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that the preliminary report released yesterday by a UN investigative team collecting information about alleged violations of human rights by Israel in occupied territories was a biased report. "The report concedes that the evidence it received was one-sided," the spokesman said, "and we agree with its own estimate." The group, established by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, heard testimony last year in New York, Geneva, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. The group was not recognized by Israel and was not permitted to enter the occupied territories.
In its report, the investigative team stated that "the evidence received was one-sided nevertheless, the group was able to make an evaluation of such evidence." It conceded, however, that it was not In a position to verify the allegations Juridically. Its full report will be issued later this month. The spokesman for the Israeli Mission said Israel’s refusal to cooperate was based on the one-sided nature of the investigation. Israel has maintained that it would cooperate with an investigation of conditions in the occupied territories only if a similar inquiry were carried out into the conditions of Jews in the Arab states.
The group consisted of representatives of Austria, India, Peru, Senegal, Tanzania and Yugoslavia. H.S. Amerasing he, Permanent Representative of Ceylon, served as its chairman. The investigative body recommended that Israel apply the provisions of the Geneva Convention on the protection of persons in time of war to the occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem and that it investigate allegations of torture, looting and pillage leveled against Israeli authorities. It said that the largest number of allegations of violations of the Geneva Convention by Israel related mostly to the period immediately following the June, 1967 Arab-Israel war. It said it did not have sufficient evidence to state with absolute certainty that the alleged violations continued with the same intensity after that period.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
