Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan concludes 10-day visit to region with impassioned call for human rights, justice and removal of illegal settlements

Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan has published an open letter to European Union leaders calling on them to urgently address the “downward spiral of human rights abuses” in Israel and the Occupied Territories.

Published ahead of this week's European Council meeting (15 December), Irene Khan’s letter urges EU leaders to step in to help avoid “catastrophic consequences for ordinary people”.

Ms Khan, who has just concluded a 10-day trip to Lebanon, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, meeting government officials and members of civil society, makes a series of specific recommendations - including the deployment of international human rights monitors to the region. Her other recommendations include:

• Concrete provisions to ensure the removal of Israeli settlements from the Occupied Territories, and the dismantling of the fence/wall inside the West Bank
  
• Ending checkpoint closures
  
• Immediate halting of the sale or transfer of weapons to all parties in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
  
• Investigation and prosecution of those responsible for crimes under international law

The open letter's recommendations are further outlined in a new briefing, Israel and the Occupied Territories: road to nowhere.

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