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Wiesenthal Center Statement to UN Commission on Human Rights

Statement by Dr. Shimon Samuels, Permanent Delegate of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre to the 61st Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Geneva Item 8: Violation of Human Rights in the Occupied Arab Territories

Item 8, in its one-sidedness and single-country bashing, is emblematic of the UN Secretary General Koffi Annan's description of this Commission's credibility deficit and need for restructuring.

To demonstrate a semblance of balance, this Commission has a responsibility to focus on a scourge that has been sidelined in this debate. I refer to terrorism and the violation of the human rights of its victims.

It is a mantra in international fora that terrorism is indefinable as it is a function of political interest. We have, however, crossed a new threshold with "suicide bombings," which has created a community of victim nations, including many in the Arab and Moslem worlds.

The suicide bomber is only the last link in a chain of terror that begins with those that recruit, incite, train, arm and protect this agent of the culture of death.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has launched a global campaign to denote suicide bombing "a crime against humanity." Beginning with H.H. Pope John Paul II, we have also met with a dozen Foreign Ministers, parliamentarians and the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Our aim is to empower the victim of suicide bombing in every country by the creation of monitoring, legal and educational mechanisms at the international level. The Wiesenthal Centre calls on the Commission of Human Rights to appoint a Rapporteur and establish a database of all elements involved in the terror chain.

We call on the member-states of this Commission to endorse our initiative and work with us on a draft convention to criminalize suicide bombing. We hope that this campaign will accentuate the values for life rather than the inculcation of hate and a self-destructive death wish, rather, education for:

- a reverence for the sanctity of human life

- a celebration of the endurance of life

- an imperative to improve the quality of life for future generations.

By discrediting the deathmongers and emphasizing the paramountcy of respect for life and hope, we invite this Commission to empower the human rights of the victims of terrorism who should be the central subject of today's debate - a focus that might just help to redeem the integrity of this Commission.

Thank you Mr. Chairman

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 6 09 77 01 58.