from PressTV
UNHR Chief Navi Pillay slams Israel's treatment of a UN expert who was to carry out a mission in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In a statement on Tuesday, top United Nations human rights o
fficial, Navi Pillay, accused Israel of "unprecedented and deeply regrettable" expulsion of Richard Falk, the UN investigator who was deported after being barred from crossing Israel to get to Palestinian areas.
Falk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, was expelled on Monday after being detained by Israeli authorities at the Tel Aviv airport for more than 20 hours. He was then put on a plane bound for Los Angeles.
"His UN mobile phone was confiscated, making further contact between the UN and Professor Falk impossible until after his subsequent deportation to the United States on Monday," Pillay said in the statement, adding she was taking the matter up directly with Israeli authorities.
Falk, who as a US citizen does not require a visa to enter Israel, was kept in a detention facility at the airport, the statement said. "Special rapporteur does not require a formal invitation by the Israeli authorities in order to carry out official missions to the occupied Palestinian territories."
Richard Falk, the Jewish-American law professor, was appointed to his post earlier this year by the UN's Human Rights Council. He had previously compared Israel's treatment of Palestinians with the Nazi treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust.
Last week In a statement, Falk said the International Criminal Court should prosecute Israeli leaders over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
He said Israel's policies against people living in the Gaza Strip amounted to a "crime against humanity."
Residents of the Gaza Strip are suffering harsh conditions under a strict Israeli siege on the region.
The Israeli regime has tightened its closure of the territory since last month, closing all crossings to even UN humanitarian supplies.
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