26 March 2004 – Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs  Rafael E. Seguis today said that the Philippines voted  in favor of a draft resolution that would have  condemned the most recent extrajudicial execution of  Sheikh Ahmed Yassin along with six other Palestinians  on Monday and would have called for a complete  cessation of extrajudicial killings.

“It was our hope that this resolution would have  helped to encourage the parties to exert every effort  to prevent an escalation of violence in the Middle  East,” the Acting Secretary said.  The draft  resolution was defeated in the Security Council  yesterday owing to a veto by the United States, a  permanent member of the Council.

“We joined ten other members of the Council in hoping  that this resolution would pass,” he added. The  Council failed to adopt the draft resolution, tabled  by Algeria and Libya, which would have also condemned  all terrorist attacks against any civilians, as well  as all acts of violence and destruction, by a vote of  11 in favour, to 1 against (United States), with 3  abstentions (Germany, Romania, United Kingdom).

The Acting Secretary said that international opinion  must weigh heavily against any increase in violence in  the Middle East.  He said that the draft UNSC  resolution would have greatly complemented the action  taken earlier in the week by the Commission on Human  Rights, following the results of a special meeting,  which adopted a resolution on the dangerous situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, which  condemned such acts on the part of Israel and appealed  to Israel to abide by the principles of international  humanitarian law and refrain from violations of human  rights in the territories. “We must shift the momentum  to peace, and clearly veer away from further violence  and death,” the Acting Secretary said.

The Acting Secretary also confirmed reports that the  Department was sending Ambassador Roy Cimatu to Israel  to assess the situation and to update existing  contingency plans.  “While we are hoping that there  will be no further increase in violence, we are taking  this precautionary measure.  The safety of our  overseas Filipinos is always our top priority,” he  said. END.