JERUSALEM - While welcoming the agreement to release kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as an important humanitarian act, Professor Gerald M. Steinberg, president of human rights watchdog NGO Monitor, noted that this episode further exposes the moral bankruptcy of international human rights mechanisms.
 

"Throughout the five years of Shalit's captivity in Gaza, during which every human rights obligation was blatantly violated, organizations such as the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), Gisha, and the International Red Cross demonstrated very little interest," Steinberg stated. "Similarly, the report of the UN Fact-Finding Commission on the Gaza War, headed by Judge Richard Goldstone, downplayed Shalit's captivity in blatant violation of international law. This moral stain will never be erased." 
 

In addition, NGO Monitor noted that the agreement to release hundreds of terrorists, responsible for heinous crimes, and tried and convicted according to due process of law, highlights the continued erosion of international legal principles. Instead of serving their time for these convictions, the murderers have been freed under extreme duress and compulsion, adding to the incentives for similar actions in the future. Organizations dedicated to human rights have an obligation to condemn such immoral extortion. 
 

For NGO Monitor's detailed reports on the neglect of Shalit by human rights groups, see:
 

Gilad Shalit Marks 24th Birthday Still in Captivity, August 27, 2010

NGOs, Universal Human Rights and Gilad Shalit: Four Years of Double Standards, July 1, 2010
 

NGO Monitor: HRW Statement on Gilad Shalit Better Late Than Never, June 25, 2009
 

Letter to Haaretz: NGO Silence on Gilad Shalit, May 6, 2009
 

Betrayed by Silence: NGOs Ignore Gilad Shalit's Rights, March 26, 2009
 

Only B'Tselem Notes One-year Anniversary of Gilad Shalit's Captivity, July 2, 2007