UN investigators in Jordan to probe Gaza flotilla raid
AFP
AMMAN- A UN human rights inquiry into Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla started on Monday a probe in Jordan where investigators interviewed four Jordanian activists.
"The UN investigators arrived last night and met today with four Jordanian activists who were on board the Mavi Marmara ship," in which nine passengers died on 31 May 2010, said Alaa Borqan, who is in charge of public relations at the Islamist-dominated trade unions.
"They will meet in Amman with the majority of the 33 Jordanians who were on board the ship."
Interviews with witnesses are held at a five-star hotel, he said.
Earlier this month the UN human rights office said in a statement that the experts would be in Jordan until September 4, following an eight-day mission to Turkey.
The mission is due to report back to the 47 member UN Human Rights Council at its next session from September 13 to October 11.
Israeli officials have rejected the council's mission as biased.
The three experts mandated by the UN rights council have interviewed unspecified witnesses in London and Geneva, and have met Turkish and Israeli ambassadors in Geneva.
The fact-finding mission is chaired by Karl Hudson-Phillips, former judge of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Desmond de Silva, former chief prosecutor of the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal, and Shanthi Dairiam, as Malaysian human rights expert, are the other members.
Israeli naval commandos on May 31 boarded a six-ship flotilla that sought to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli blockade, killing nine Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara ferry owned by the Turkey-based Islamic charity IHH (Foundation of Humanitarian Relief).
The raid triggered international condemnation.
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Interviews with witnesses are held at a five-star hotel, he said.
Earlier this month the UN human rights office said in a statement that the experts would be in Jordan until September 4, following an eight-day mission to Turkey.
The mission is due to report back to the 47 member UN Human Rights Council at its next session from September 13 to October 11.
Israeli officials have rejected the council's mission as biased.
The three experts mandated by the UN rights council have interviewed unspecified witnesses in London and Geneva, and have met Turkish and Israeli ambassadors in Geneva.
The fact-finding mission is chaired by Karl Hudson-Phillips, former judge of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Desmond de Silva, former chief prosecutor of the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal, and Shanthi Dairiam, as Malaysian human rights expert, are the other members.
Israeli naval commandos on May 31 boarded a six-ship flotilla that sought to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli blockade, killing nine Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara ferry owned by the Turkey-based Islamic charity IHH (Foundation of Humanitarian Relief).
The raid triggered international condemnation.
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