Flotilla Justice Group launched in Qatar

25 October 2010

DOHA: Following on international efforts to secure justice for victims of the May 31 Israeli attack on Freedom Flotilla, the Flotilla Justice Group was launched in Doha yesterday at a meeting of legal experts from various parts of the world.

The Group will coordinate legal efforts on behalf of the flotilla victims. Seventy legal experts and lawyers from over 20 countries attended the two-day meeting sponsored by the Doha-based Al Fakhoora, an international campaign committed to providing and expanding access to education for students in Gaza.

The conference was a continuation of the lawyers' meeting held in Istanbul on July 15.

"The Flotilla Justice Group" was established as the primary outcome of the conference, and will serve as a coordination mechanism for facilitating communication and the exchange of information between lawyers working on behalf of victims around the world.

The conference also crafted a media strategy for supporting the flotilla campaign. In a separate workshop, the legal representatives for the dozens of passengers effected in the May 31 attack formalized plans to support one another's cases in national courts, both regionally and internationally.

Organizations and firms participating in the conference included: the Turkish İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri İnsani Yardım Vakfı (IHH), the Free Gaza Movement, European Campaign to End Siege on Gaza (ECESG), Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), the Ship to Gaza Sweden, the Ship to Gaza Greece, the Organization for Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People (MAZLUMDER), the Elmadag Law Firm from Turkey, the UK-based Hickman and Rose law firm, Boye-Elbal Associates, Indonesian Muslims' Lawyer Team, and the Muslim Lawyers Association of South Africa.

Al Fakhoora director Farooq Burney said, "As long as the Israeli blockade of Gaza continues, education will suffer. As such, Al Fakhoora fully supports the legal efforts that have been undertaken on the national, regional and international levels to protect the humanitarian activists working to bring vital supplies to the 1.5 million civilians there."

© The Peninsula 2010

Source: Zawya.
Link: http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20101025040901.