KARACHI, April 4: A large number of people participated in a demonstration organized by the Amnesty International at the Press Club on Thursday to protest against Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians.

The AI members also distributed a statement among the demonstrators which highlighted the atrocities being committed in the occupied territories. It demanded an immediate stop to the Israeli military action which was characterized by flagrant human right abuses against the Palestinians as it was fuelling a spiralling cycle of violence.

The AI called for the deployment of human-rights monitors in the area where human rights were being abused with the aim of protecting Palestinians and Israeli civilians.

The AI said that during the reoccupation of the town of Ramallah by the Israeli Occupation Forces that started by an attack on President Yasser Arafat’s offices on March 29 a curfew had been imposed and scores of houses, apartments etc had been occupied, and water, electricity, telephones of the residents of Ramallah had been cut off.

The AI demanded that the IDF and Israeli authorities should cease violations of human rights including unlawful killings and excessive use of lethal force, destruction of Palestinian homes and property, closures of towns and villages, arbitrary arrests, torture and degrading treatment of Palestinians, hindering access to medical care, hindering access to international humanitarian organisations and journalists.

It demanded that the Palestinians armed groups must cease targeting Israeli civilians and the Palestinian authorities should condemn all killings targeting civilians and make maximum efforts to stop these.

The AI said that the workable cease fire must address the fact that this conflict was fuelled by human-rights abuses and a ceasefire which did not address the human rights of all could not bring security.

The AI called for an immediate deployment of the international monitors with strong transparent human rights monitoring component.

It demanded that the unlawful killings must be investigated and those responsible for them must be brought to justice.