International Progress Organization calls for independent international investigation of the death of Yasser Arafat
 

Vienna, 29 November 2005/P/RE/19466c-is

In a statement delivered this afternoon at the solemn meeting on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the President of the International Progress Organization (I.P.O.), Dr. Hans Koechler, called for the setting up of an independent international investigating commission on the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Speaking before a meeting of UN officials and representatives of United Nations member states at the UN Center in Vienna, he urged the United Nations Security Council to mandate a criminal investigation.

Representing the network of non-governmental organizations on the Question of Palestine, the President of the I.P.O. said, inter alia:

On 11 November 2004 the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian National Authority, Yasser Arafat, died under mysterious circumstances in a military hospital in France. The possibility of death by unnatural causes has not been ruled out; after having seen the French hospital’s medical records, the late Yasser Arafat’s nephew, Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, had spoken of the impossibility of reaching a clear diagnosis. ... We, therefore, call for an independent international investigation of the causes of President Arafat’s death to be mandated by the United Nations Organization. The world organization must not practice a policy of double standards when it comes to ordering mandatory criminal investigations in the context of international disputes; it is simply unacceptable if an investigation is being ordered in one case while no investigative action is taken in another, depending on considerations of political convenience in each and every case.

The knowledge of the truth – the full truth – in this matter, with all implications as to responsibility under criminal law, will be indispensable not only in the eyes of the people of Palestine, but of all those who are committed to justice as basis of durable peace. Yasser Arafat was a founding father of the Palestinian resistance movement and had become the symbol of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. It is impossible to conduct diplomatic “business as usual” if the circumstances of his death are not established beyond a reasonable doubt. An impartial investigation would also be a sign of respect for the people of Palestine and its legitimate struggle for national self-determination. We fully support the call by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Head of its Political Department for the setting up of an investigating commission by the United Nations Security Council.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. It was chaired by H.E. Mr. Sheel Kant Sharma, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at Vienna. After the reading of a special message from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan statements were delivered by H.E. Dr. Thomas Stelzer of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria on behalf of the host country; H.E. Dr. Rajmah Hussain, Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations, on behalf of the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM); H.E. Mr. Mikhail Wehbe, Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States; and H.E. Mr. Zuheir El Wazer, Head of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine.

END/International Progress Organization calls for independent international investigation of the death of Yasser Arafat/P/RE/19466c-is