It is with great concern that we watch the rapid deterioration of perhaps it would be more accurate to say the deliberate flaunting of the rule of law and international norms in Western Asia.
You, like most persons who have been following developments there, are familiar with the relevant facts:
An Israeli soldier was captured by Hamas militants and apparently taken into Gaza. The response of the Israeli Government was to order air strikes, which deliberately targeted and destroyed bridges, residential compounds and a power station that provided electricity to a large number of residents in Gaza. Israeli tanks and soldiers that went into Gaza and caused further destruction of civilian buildings and vehicles. In the process a large number of civilians, including women and children were killed and many wounded.
After Hezbollah militia forces killed a number of Israeli soldiers and captured others, Israeli planes intentionally destroyed bridges, roads, civilian buildings in Lebanon, as well as dropping bombs on the runway and fuel storage tanks of the international airport in Beirut. In what some analysts have interpreted as provocative, Israeli planes also bombed a road and bridge close to Syria. A large number of Lebanese civilians were killed and wounded. The Israeli navy has set up a naval blockade which has prevented all shipping from entering or leaving ports in Lebanon.
Hezbollah forces have resumed firing rockets at civilian targets in Israel. Some of those rockets struck targets and killed civilians in the Israeli city of Haifa. In retaliation, Israeli warplanes bombed and rocketed residential areas of Beirut and urban areas across southern Lebanon killing and wounding even more civilians in Lebanon.
The civilian population of Gaza, Lebanon, and northern Israel are facing, to varying degrees, the daily fear that they may be killed or wounded by acts of terrorism. Innocent civilians are being killed and forced to live in fear because some leaders have violated international rules and ignored norms of civilized society.
We condemn each and every act of terrorism, whether by groups or State forces, the sole object of which is to attempt to frighten and intimidate the civilian population in apparent attempts to put pressure on political leaders. From the reports that are available in the mass media, the totally disproportionate retaliation by Israel against civilian target appears to have been intentional and intended to provoke a further escalation.
History and recent experience in various parts of the world have shown that acts of terrorism whether by groups or State forces sow the seeds of hatred and the seeds of desires or plans to retaliate with further acts of terrorism, leading to an ever increasing spiral of violence. A resort to terrorism on the scale we have recently seen must be premised on the ability to dehumanize individuals on the other side. Each act of terrorism seems to result in some persons being pushed to concluding that they themselves will also dehumanize the others and engage in acts of terrorism. These escalating acts of terrorism inevitably mean that it will be that much more difficult to attain a political solution that is needed to resolve the disputes.
Mr. Secretary General, when the United Nations was established, people around the world were given hope that when the leaders of countries failed to follow the rule of law, the international community would step in to offer protection to civilians until such time that the rule of law could once again be established.
The effectiveness of the United Nations to deal with the breakdown of the rule of law is being sorely tested in many parts of the world. Despite numerous resolutions, the situation in West Asia continues to deteriorate.
Mr. Secretary General, the situation in West Asia cries out for intervention from the international community. We are aware of the difficult position in which you find yourself, as some members of the Security Council have inexplicably sought to justify the State of Israels targeting of so many civilian targets. Nevertheless, we urge you to use your good office and diplomatic skills to persuade the members of the Security Council to send United Nations troops into Gaza, Southern Lebanon and northern Israel to seek to stop further acts of terrorism and to prevent the escalation of an already terrible situation.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
John J. Clancey
Chairperson
Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong
