Gilad Shalit is geen krijgsgevangene volgens de mensenrechtenorganisatie Betselem, dus kan men niet spreken van een 'gevangenenruil' zoals Hamas doet, in het geval Israël aan haar eisen tegemoet zou komen om een groot aantal Palestijnse gevangenen vrij te laten. 'Losgeld' is hier een betere term voor, en Shalit is een gijzelaar zoals de Britse journalist Alan Johnston.
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B'Tselem: Holding Gilad Shalit as a hostage is a war crime
25 June 2007
On the one-year anniversary of the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, states that he must be released immediately. The organization says that the circumstances of his capture and the behavior of his captors clearly indicate that he is a hostage.
International humanitarian law absolutely prohibits taking and holding a person by force in order to compel the enemy to meet certain demands, while threatening to harm or kill the person if the demands are not met.
Furthermore, hostage-taking is considered a war crime and all those involved bear individual criminal liability.
Hamas, which de-facto controls the security apparatus in the Gaza Strip, bears the responsibility to act to release Shalit immediately and unconditionally. Until he is released, those holding him must grant him humane treatment and allow representatives of the ICRC to visit him. The fact that Shalit's right to these visits has been denied constitutes a blatant violation of international law, says B'Tselem.
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For additional information: B'Tselem Communications Director, Sarit
Michaeli, www.btselem.org
B'Tselem: Holding Gilad Shalit as a hostage is a war crime
25 June 2007
On the one-year anniversary of the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, states that he must be released immediately. The organization says that the circumstances of his capture and the behavior of his captors clearly indicate that he is a hostage.
International humanitarian law absolutely prohibits taking and holding a person by force in order to compel the enemy to meet certain demands, while threatening to harm or kill the person if the demands are not met.
Furthermore, hostage-taking is considered a war crime and all those involved bear individual criminal liability.
Hamas, which de-facto controls the security apparatus in the Gaza Strip, bears the responsibility to act to release Shalit immediately and unconditionally. Until he is released, those holding him must grant him humane treatment and allow representatives of the ICRC to visit him. The fact that Shalit's right to these visits has been denied constitutes a blatant violation of international law, says B'Tselem.
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For additional information: B'Tselem Communications Director, Sarit
Michaeli, www.btselem.org
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