Fares: UN investigation lacks objectivity and courage

Head of the Commission of Prisoners' Affairs and Liberated Prisoners, Qadura Fares, criticized the United Nations investigation issued yesterday, Thursday, on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, and the war of extermination that the Palestinian people are being subjected to, which has affected all segments of society. Fares explained that such an investigation imposes its strength and legitimacy by its closeness to reality and the establishment of facts, and since the Israeli occupation authorities refused the entry of UN investigators to the occupied Palestinian territories, the investigation will not achieve its goal, and will not be able to reveal the actual extent of the crimes and their causes. "Israel refused to allow a team of investigators from the United Nations to enter the occupied Palestinian territories. This was supposed to be the main title and to be built upon, as it exposes the occupation authorities in their dealings with and disregard for the most important internation al institution, and that relying on interviews, witnesses, and the presentation of documents and images taken via satellite will not serve the purpose, compared to the size of the ongoing crime on the ground," Fares said. Fares added, "The investigation touched on prisoners, and unfortunately equated thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons with dozens of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas. It spoke about the involvement of 'both parties' in acts of torture and sexual violence, and described the Israeli prisoners as kidnapped. Here we ask what is the standard that the international institution relied on in choosing the names of prisoners and kidnapped people? Is it reasonable for an international institution the size of the United Nations to make such a mistake?" Fares explained that the investigation unfortunately did not rise to the level of the crime represented by the war of extermination that the Palestinian people are being subjected to, and within the scope of jurisdiction, passi ng over what the Palestinian prisoners are being subjected to inside prisons and detention centers by referring to superficial treatment followed by torture and sexual violence, this weakens the report and classifies it as below standard in the part of its treatment of the prisoners' issue. Fares called on the United Nations to force the occupation authorities to allow its investigators to enter the occupied Palestinian territories and examine the crimes on the ground, specifically inside prisons and detention centers, because the description and terms used by the investigation are worth nothing compared to the facts on the ground. Fares pointed out the necessity of comparing the treatment, personal safety and rights between thousands of Palestinian prisoners and dozens of Israeli prisoners, and taking the facts from the testimonies and appearances of prisoners who are released daily after the end of their sentences and periods of detention, and the videos and testimonies of Israeli prisoners who were hande d over by Hamas or released in exchange operations. Fares stressed that the bodies of the Palestinian prisoners, of which nothing remains but skin and bones, their critical health conditions, deprivation of all rights, psychological torture, humiliation and rape, are shameful to be compared to the Israeli prisoners, because what we saw of them during their release in exchange operations, and listening to their testimonies confirms that the prisons of the Israeli occupation are the most violent, criminal and bloody in the world. Source: Maan News Agency