U.N. rights envoy resigns, accuses Israel of denying access

GENEVA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.N. investigator for human rights violations in the Palestinian territories resigned on Monday, saying that Israel had reneged on its pledge to grant him access to the West Bank and Gaza.

Makarim Wibisono, United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, said that his repeated oral and written requests for access had gone unanswered over 18 months.

In a statement announcing his resignation, Wibisono, who reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council, voiced "deep concern at the lack of effective protection of Palestinian victims of continuing human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law".

--

--

His predecessor Richard Falk, an American law professor who is Jewish, long drew controversy in Israel. In 2008 Falk compared Israeli military strikes against Hamas in Gaza - during which 1,400 Palestinians were killed and there was widespread destruction in densely populated areas - to those of the Nazis. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Maayan Lubell and Luke Baker in Jerusalem; Editing by Alison Williams)

http://www.trust.org/item/20160104143705-8awqn/?source=fiOtherNews3