Hafez Abu Seada, a member of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), strongly objected to the Israeli ambassador in Cairo Shalom Cohen visiting the Council and meeting with Dr. Boutros-Ghali, President of the Council, last Thursday. Abu Seada yesterday submitted a memorandum to NCHR Secretary-General Mukhlis Qutb, in which he said that what was printed in Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar on the outcome of the meeting of last Thursday ignored the view that rejected the ambassador's visit. The memo of which Al-Masry Al-Youm got a copy read: We consider the statement of Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali as an apology for having held that meeting that mars the Council and mixes politics with human rights, especially that the regulations of the Council do not give it the right to meet with an ambassador of a country that is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that violates all international resolutions. Ghali had said that the Council had approved the meeting, but Seada noted that human rights activists around the world agreed at the United Nations Conference against Racism that was held in Durban, South Africa, that Israel is a ‘racist' state.
In the same context, the Arab Association for Supporting Civil Society and Human Rights in a statement considered the meeting a negative and incomprehensible step that contradicts the Council's role, and that enhances the image of the entity that violates international law, international human rights conventions and the four Geneva conventions. The statement also said that Ghali does not differentiate between his former job as UN secretary-general and his current job as president of NCHR, which stipulates that he should deal with a country according to her commitment to human rights.
