October, 26 2010, 01:49pm EDT
Lawyers Establish Flotilla Justice Group for Flotilla Victims
International legal experts and lawyers representing victims of the
Gaza Freedom Flotilla today announced the establishment of the "Flotilla
Justice Group." The announcement came at the conclusion of a two-day
meeting held on 23 and 24 October, aimed at coordinating legal actions
to hold Israel accountable for its 31 May 2010 attack on the Freedom
Flotilla. The meeting, hosted by the Doha-based Al Fakhoora campaign,
brought together 70 representatives from 20 countries, to follow up on
work that began at the first lawyers' meeting held in Istanbul on 15
July.
DOHA, Qatar
International legal experts and lawyers representing victims of the
Gaza Freedom Flotilla today announced the establishment of the "Flotilla
Justice Group." The announcement came at the conclusion of a two-day
meeting held on 23 and 24 October, aimed at coordinating legal actions
to hold Israel accountable for its 31 May 2010 attack on the Freedom
Flotilla. The meeting, hosted by the Doha-based Al Fakhoora campaign,
brought together 70 representatives from 20 countries, to follow up on
work that began at the first lawyers' meeting held in Istanbul on 15
July.
The international advocacy groups, legal and media experts, and
lawyers in attendance met in a number of workshops to devise a
comprehensive strategy for national, regional and international legal
action, inter-organizational coordination, and media mobilization. "The
Flotilla Justice Group" will serve as a coordination mechanism for
facilitating communication and the exchange of information between
lawyers working on behalf of flotilla victims around the world.
Bettahar Boudjellal, a Qatar-based international human rights expert,
said, "Israel's attack on the Freedom Flotilla breached international,
human rights and humanitarian law. Our efforts to unify the legal
actions through a designated coordination apparatus will allow us to
collectively bring the State of Israel to justice. More importantly, it
will serve as a foundation for responding to Israel's future
violations."
The conference workshops were led by prominent personalities within
the growing movement to end Israel's strangulation of Gaza as well as
its persistent human rights violations throughout the occupied
Palestinian territory. Participants in the meeting included
representatives from the following countries: Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia
Herzegovina, Canada, Egypt, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan,
Kuwait, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Palestine, Spain, South
Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United
States, and Yemen.
"The creation of the Flotilla Justice Group is a vital step forward
on the road to holding Israel accountable for its attack on our
flotilla, and their ongoing abuse of the Palestinian people" said the
Freedom Flotilla organizers.
Organizations and firms participating in the conference included: the
Turkish Insan Hak ve Hurriyetleri Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), the Free
Gaza Movement, European Campaign to End Siege on Gaza (ECESG), Council
for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), the Elmadag Law Firm from
Turkey, Mazlumdar -- the Turkish Human Rights Association, the UK-based
Hickman and Rose law firm, Ship to Gaza - Greece, Ship to Gaza - Sweden,
Indonesian Muslims' Lawyer Team, the Muslim Lawyers Association of
South Africa, and others.
Free Gaza is a human rights group founded in 2006. Our mission is to break the Israel's illegal siege on Gaza's 1.8 million civilians, since it inflicts collective punishment on the Palestinians who live there and has destroyed its economy. Free Gaza believes in direct action in confronting Israel's abuse of Palestinians using non-violent means and has found these voyages to be one of the most effective ways to alert the world to the prison-like conditions of Gaza. Ultimately, there is no better example of direct action than Free Gaza's sustained attempts to break the siege on Gaza which Israel claims it no longer occupies
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