Rachel Frenkel will address the United Nations Human Rights Council tomorrow, June 24.
Frenkel is the mother of 16 year old Israeli-American Naftali Frenkel, one of the three Israeli teenagers kidnapped on June 12.
UN Watch, a human rights non-governmental organization, invited Frenkel to come to Geneva from Israel, and to use the NGO’s allotted slot to address the HRC. She will use her time to implore the global human rights body and the entire “international community do everything it can to help find the boys and bring them home safely,” according to a statement released by UN Watch.
Frenkel will address the HRC at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, which is 5:00 a.m. in New York, and 12:00 noon in Israel.
Hillel Neuer is the executive director of UN Watch.
“UN Watch condemns the kidnapping of the three boys, which the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] rightly described as a war crime, and calls for their immediate, unconditional and safe return,” Neuer said.
“This heinous act violates international humanitarian law, which prohibits targeting civilians and the taking of hostages. We are in awe of Mrs. Frenkel’s strength of spirit, and are grateful for the opportunity to offer her an international platform to appeal for the safe release of her son and the other two boys. We hope the international community will collectively heed her call,” he continued.
Frenkel will also be meeting with senior international officials while she is in Geneva, in an effort to enlist their assistance. UN Watch is helping to facilitate those meetings.
Naftali Frenkel, along with Gilad Shaar and Eyal Nifrach, are believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. They were abducted Thursday evening, June 12. One of the boys was able to leave a brief telephone message with a police hotline, explaining that they had been kidnapped. The Israel Defense Force and other security organizations have been searching ceaselessly to recover the boys.