European petition supports the International Red Cross in demand for access to abducted Israeli soldiers.

Geneva 15 August 2007 – Over 30 000 European citizens, among them many Members of European parliament, have signed a petition to demand that the International Red Cross gets access to the three abducted Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalid. The three young Israeli soldiers were abducted more than a year ago but still representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross have not been given permission to visit them and evaluate their health conditions.  On Tuesday representatives of the European Coalition for Israel, the group which initiated the petition, met with leaders of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.

- ”This is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and the world community needs to do more to ensure that representatives of the Red Cross can meet with the soldiers and that they are eventually freed. The petition is a spontaneous and non-political reaction from concerned citizens from across Europe who demand that international humanitarian law is respected and hope that the International Red Cross makes every effort to secure any information about their whereabouts and health conditions”, said Helmut Specht, chairman of the European Coalition for Israel.

When the BBC journalist Alan Johnston was in a similar situation a few months ago he got massive support from international media which eventually lead to his release.

- ”It is important that we as Europeans are not selective in our concerns and solidarity. The three Israeli soldiers were patrolling Israeli territory when they were brutally captured and taken away and they deserve our solidarity just as much as a European journalist”, says Specht.

He is supported by an increasing number of European parliamentarians who, in partnership with the ECI, are taking different measures to step up the pressure on relevant international authorities to speak out and take action. Earlier in the year the board of the ECI, together with parliamentarians from several European countries, met with the family members of the abducted soldiers to hear their testimonies. As a result of the meeting the issue of the three abducted soldiers has been raised in parliaments all over Europe. In the European parliament the vice-chairman of the Human Rights committee, MEP Jósef Pinior spoke on July 10, about the unconditional need of respecting international conventions and humanitarian law.

The campaign to raise the issue of the abducted soldiers on the international agenda and eventually free the soldiers, will not end with Tuesday’s meeting but expand and find new forms. The concern for the abducted soldiers is shared by a growing number of respected human rights NGOs, among them “Medecins Sans Frontiers”. As for the International Red Cross the issue is a top priority. In a recent statement ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger clearly stated that “forced disappearances constitute a violation of the rights of the missing persons next of kin”. The petition is to be seen as an expression of support for ICRC’s task to visit the three soldiers in accordance with Geneva International Humanitarian Law Conventions. The ICRC has this legal mandate from the international community and the European Coalition for Israel and the 30 000 signatories urge them to make every effort in order to make use of it.