GENEVA, – Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch is bringing Rachel Frankel, the mother of 16-year-old Israeli-American kidnap victim Naftali Fraenkel, who was one of three boys abducted on June 12th, to speak before the United Nations Human Rights Council on June 24.
Mrs. Frankel will address the UN council at approximately 11:00 am tomorrow (Geneva time/CEST) to urge the UN and the international community to do everything it can to help find the boys and bring them home safely.
UN Watch, which has been the most active NGO voice at this Council session on critical human rights issues, invited Mrs. Frankel to come to Geneva to use the NGO's slot to address the Council.
“UN Watch condemns the kidnapping of the three boys, which the ICRC rightly described as a war crime, and calls for their immediate, unconditional and safe return,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.
“This heinous act violates international humanitarian law, which prohibits targeting civilians and the taking of hostages. We are are in awe of Mrs. Frankel's strength of spirit, and are grateful for the opportunity to offer her an international platform to appeal for the safe release of her son and the other two boys. We hope the international community will collectively heed her call."
In addition to arranging Mrs. Frankel’s UN visit, UN Watch is also helping to facilitate meetings in Geneva with senior international officials.
UN Watch is a Geneva-based human rights organization founded in 1993 to monitor UN compliance with the principles of its Charter. It is accredited as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).
