UN condemns Israel over Jenin camp ban
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has criticised Israel for refusing to allow her to lead a fact-finding mission into the Jenin refugee camp.
Mary Robinson says it is "very regrettable" the mission to investigate claims of human rights violations had been refused.
Israel's action could lead to unaccountability, Mrs Robinson said at the UN information centre in London.
She has also condemned the murder of Dutch far right politician, Pim Fortuyn, as deplorable and added it should be a wake-up call for the vigilance of democracy.
Asked about Israel's refusal to allow a UN mission into Jenin, she said:
"It is important that there can be impartial, objective fact-finding missions in situations of conflict where there are very different versions. There is a worry when the military forces of a country appear to be able to act with impunity since the fact-finding mission could not go.
"A serious prima facie case has been made by reputable bodies but there is no real pressure for an investigation. If there is no accountability, this will undermine the integrity of the human rights system and will reinforce a sense of double standards."
Mrs Robinson, who is in her fifth year in the post, says the mission had been backed by the UN Security Council. She has called on Israel to meet its responsibility to investigate all the allegations surrounding Jenin.
It did appear there had been no massacre, but there had been serious allegations of human rights violations, including the killing of civilians and allegations that civilians were used as human shields.
Mrs Robinson's brief visit to the UK will include an address on corporate citizenship at the Royal Society of Arts and a joint parliamentary group on human rights at the Houses of Parliament.
