Cairo, September 16 (QNA) – The Arab League’s General Secretariat hailed the call by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk to allow international investigators access to all parts of the Gaza Strip to help gather and preserve evidence, amid the continued recovery of hundreds of bodies and human remains from beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings.
The League’s statement stressed that this call came at a very critical time, as recovery operations continue to unveil realities that prompt documentation and investigation under the rules-based international order and international humanitarian law, amid Turk’s serious concerns over potential grave violations that have taken place, including war crimes.
The statement stressed that the right of the families of those who have vanished to know their fate is not limited to burying these bodies but rather extends to their right to thoroughly know the truth about what happened to those victims, as well as the circumstances that led to their deaths.
As such, the League called for international assistance for the appropriate Palestinian authorities to help them continue searching for and recovering bodies and human remains and ensure access to essential machinery in the affected zones.
The statement noted that what matters most here is respect for the sanctity of the dead, the dignity of the victims and the rights of their next of kin, reiterating its emphasis on the need to ensure accountability for any violations of international law and international humanitarian law and to ensure that there is no impunity for perpetrators. (QNA)