CAIRO: Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned Israeli authorities in the strongest terms for forcibly deporting human rights lawyer and activist Salah Hamouri to France.
Aboul Gheit said that the deportation policy violates international law and represents a flagrant violation of human rights.
A spokesperson for Aboul Gheit said that the secretary-general warned against tolerating immoral Israeli policies toward Palestinians.
Aboul Gheit appealed to the international community to take a strong and unified stance against measures that violate international law and disregard the principles of human rights.
French Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri arrived in France on Sunday after he was expelled from East Jerusalem and had his residency permit revoked following a decision by Israeli authorities.
The 37-year-old was deported to France after he was sentenced last March to three months of administrative detention.
Hamouri was detained in Israeli prisons on suspicion of having links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Israel and the EU consider a terrorist organization.
The French Palestinian dual national was born in East Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel. He does not hold Israeli citizenship.
In early December, Israel confirmed the cancellation of Hamouri’s residency, which paved the way for his deportation, despite the appointment of a new hearing on Jan. 1.
On Monday, the UN denounced Israel’s expulsion of Hamouri, describing the measure as a “war crime.”
Jeremy Lawrence, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: “International humanitarian law prohibits the expulsion of protected persons from occupied territory and expressly prohibits the coercion of such persons to pledge allegiance to the occupying power.”
“The expulsion of a protected person from occupied territory is a serious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and constitutes a war crime.
“We are deeply concerned about the terrifying message this sends to human rights workers in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
