Last update - 00:00 21/02/2007
Rights group to Lebanese activists: Help free seized IDF soldiers
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights has asked its Lebanese counterparts to work toward receiving information regarding the three Israel Defense Forces soldiers abducted last summer.
The group, which deals mainly with the human rights issues in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, said in its request that it hoped a coordinated effort by Israeli and Lebanese groups could bring about the release of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were seized by Hezbollah guerillas.
The group has submitted a request to its Palestinian counterparts to help work for the release of Gilad Shalit, shortly after his capture by Palestinian militants in June.
"We urge you to do all you can to help bring information regarding the conditions of these three soldiers and everything related to their lives, their health and the conditions they are being held in," wrote the group in its petition.
"We hope that coordination, whether overt to discreet, can ensure that the prisoners are given the right to be visited by the Red Cross and that their families will receive information on their conditions."
The group submitted its request to its Lebanese counterparts after receiving harsh criticism from the families of the abducted soldiers. The families slammed the group for working toward the benefit of Palestinians and not doing anything to help Israeli hostages.
The Lebanese groups that received the request include the Lebanese Lawyers Association, the Foundation of Human and Humanitarian Rights Lebanon and the Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation.