UN human rights chief condemns suicide bombings against Israelis19 May – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, today condemned the weekend suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, saying such acts "serve only to destroy innocent civilian life and demonstrate the utterly repugnant nature of terrorism."
At the same time, Mr. Vieira de Mello expressed his concern over the number of Palestinian civilians killed in recent days and called on Israel to "act in conformity with its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law and to ensure the safety of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories."
In a statement issued in Geneva reaffirming his total repudiation of all acts of violence targeting innocent civilians, he echoed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call on the Palestinian leadership "to do everything in its power to de-legitimize and stop terrorism." Mr. Annan yesterday called on both sides not to allow such incidents to derail the peace process.
Calling the attacks a direct assault on efforts to achieve progress on the latest Road Map peace plan foreseeing two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side, Mr. Vieira de Mello concluded: "Israel and the Palestinian leadership must do their utmost to break the cycle of violence and ensure that peace, built on a solid foundation of full respect for human rights, becomes a reality."
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