A Peruvian, Luis Alvarado Garrido, was selected yesterday by 16 of his fellow vice presidents of the General Assembly to appoint a special three-member committee to study charges of violations of human rights by Israel in the occupied territories. The vice presidents met to select one of their number for the task following a suggestion of Secretary-General U Thant which was approved last week by 67–a majority-of the UN member states.
Mr. Thant had circulated proposals among all 126 members on how to resolve the problem of selecting the committee. Israel’s representative, Ambassador Yosef Tekoah, denounced Mr. Thant’s action as “dubious”, “illegal” and “unwarranted.” Israel opposed the resolution to establish the investigating committee last winter and insisted that there can be no inquiry into the condition of Arabs in the occupied territories unless there is also an investigation of the condition of Jews in the Arab countries.
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