4 mar 2010
UK mulling curb on war crimes arrest warrants
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to block private groups from seeking the arrest of foreign officials for war crimes following a diplomatic dispute with Israel, he wrote in the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
In November, a London magistrate’s court issued an arrest warrant for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni at the request of lawyers representing Palestinians killed in Israel’s recent war on Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn when Livni canceled a planned trip to the UK. She has not attempted to visit Britain since.
Livni was foreign minister during the 2008-2009 war which left some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
A UN-mandated fact finding mission to Gaza led by renowned South African judge Richard Goldstone found evidence that Israel and Palestinian militias committed war crimes during the conflict.
According to reports, Brown wants to place restrictions on Britain’s universal jurisdiction statutes, which allow foreign figures to be tried for war crimes on British soil.
"As we have seen, there is now significant danger of such a provision being exploited by politically-motivated organisations or individuals who set out only to grab headlines knowing their case has no realistic chance of a successful prosecution," Brown wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"There is already growing reason to believe that some people are not prepared to travel to this country for fear that such a private arrest warrant – motivated purely by political gesture – might be sought against them.
"These are sometimes people representing countries and interests with which the UK must engage if we are not only to defend our national interest but maintain and extend an influence for good across the globe," he added.
Under current British law, private individuals can start criminal prosecutions by applying to a magistrate for a court summons or an arrest warrant.
According to Reuters, British Justice Secretary Jack Straw said the government specifically planned to remove the ability to seek arrest warrants for war crimes from individual citizens and restrict it to state prosecutors.
Livni welcomed Brown’s comments on Thursday, telling the Telegraph, "The current situation in the UK enables the more cynical elements to take advantage of the system. The warrant that was issued against me according to the legislation was an absurd use of this law.”
Human rights groups voiced opposition to the planned changes. According to Al-Jazeera, Benjamin Ward, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Europe, said his organization "would be concerned with any proposal that would effectively abolish private prosecutions for these crimes."
UK mulling curb on war crimes arrest warrants
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to block private groups from seeking the arrest of foreign officials for war crimes following a diplomatic dispute with Israel, he wrote in the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
In November, a London magistrate’s court issued an arrest warrant for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni at the request of lawyers representing Palestinians killed in Israel’s recent war on Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn when Livni canceled a planned trip to the UK. She has not attempted to visit Britain since.
Livni was foreign minister during the 2008-2009 war which left some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
A UN-mandated fact finding mission to Gaza led by renowned South African judge Richard Goldstone found evidence that Israel and Palestinian militias committed war crimes during the conflict.
According to reports, Brown wants to place restrictions on Britain’s universal jurisdiction statutes, which allow foreign figures to be tried for war crimes on British soil.
"As we have seen, there is now significant danger of such a provision being exploited by politically-motivated organisations or individuals who set out only to grab headlines knowing their case has no realistic chance of a successful prosecution," Brown wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"There is already growing reason to believe that some people are not prepared to travel to this country for fear that such a private arrest warrant – motivated purely by political gesture – might be sought against them.
"These are sometimes people representing countries and interests with which the UK must engage if we are not only to defend our national interest but maintain and extend an influence for good across the globe," he added.
Under current British law, private individuals can start criminal prosecutions by applying to a magistrate for a court summons or an arrest warrant.
According to Reuters, British Justice Secretary Jack Straw said the government specifically planned to remove the ability to seek arrest warrants for war crimes from individual citizens and restrict it to state prosecutors.
Livni welcomed Brown’s comments on Thursday, telling the Telegraph, "The current situation in the UK enables the more cynical elements to take advantage of the system. The warrant that was issued against me according to the legislation was an absurd use of this law.”
Human rights groups voiced opposition to the planned changes. According to Al-Jazeera, Benjamin Ward, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Europe, said his organization "would be concerned with any proposal that would effectively abolish private prosecutions for these crimes."
27 feb 2010
Gaza: A Dark Comedy
When Israel attacked Gaza just over a year ago, the Israeli government undoubtedly believed it could get away with murder with little damage to its reputation. The way that this would happen, however, was probably not envisioned.
Neither the Israeli generals who ordered the attacks on civilians, civilian infrastructure and whatever else was in sight, nor their most unyielding defenders could have foreseen the dark comedy into which they had stepped. While they might have assumed they could act with immunity, they probably did not expect that this immunity would come as much from Palestinian actions as their own.
The one-year history of how the tragedy in Gaza has been handled at the UN today seems to have devolved to a dark comedy. The Israeli government, their supporters, much of the wider international community, and even the Palestinian authorities themselves have all contributed to the surreal compliance with which the ongoing, man-made disaster in Gaza has been handled.
The most recent leading actor in this dark comedy is the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, who responded to a demand by the UN General Assembly that he report on progress being made to investigate the war crimes in Gaza by providing a one-and-a-half-page note essentially saying he wasn’t sure that any progress was being made.
He cited the commitments of the single state involved, as well as those of actors the UN does not yet recognize as states, as indicating that they would undertake proper investigations of the allegations made in the Goldstone report.
At the same time, he appeared to ignore his obligation to recommend what could be done. Instead, he presented a report that is aimless, lacks authority, and seems in need of an investigation itself.
The confusion, unfortunately, is not confined to one isolated UN official. Everyone else in the picture seems to have contributed to making this tragedy a veritable black comedy in which jesters dance while the people of Gaza continue to suffer.
As expected, the Israeli authorities shunned the UN’s authority. Belatedly they appeared to react to the General Assembly with a meager suggestion that maybe two soldiers would be disciplined for the dozens of alleged war crimes that had been documented in the Goldstone report. Even this derisory must have elicited a smile of relief on the faces of observers, but such optimism was short-lived as within hours even this derogatory gesture was proven to be a mere dramatic feigning that the Israeli government quickly denied or retracted depending whether it was genuine in the first place.
No soldier had been or would be disciplined, the Israeli government confirmed. Of course, no Israeli could be found to have committed war crimes despite the overwhelming evidence because that would dent the alleged legitimacy of more than 60 years of foreign and oppressive occupation of the Palestinian people carried out in the name of ancient texts dating back thousands of years.
Also, as one might expect, the US government joined in to ensure that the black comedy did not become a political standard-setter for ensuring the rule of international law. Apparently not even having read the Goldstone report, the US was quick to condemn it. The US Congress even went further by adopting a joint resolution to confirm the government’s irrational fear of the rule of international law when it comes to Israel.
For his part, US President Barack Obama merely continues to virtually avoid the issue. This might be attributable to his chief of staff, who volunteered for the Israeli forces responsible for the occupation of Palestine, Rahm Emmanuel, and who does not want to spoil America’s special relationship with Israel. As long as Israel’s inhumane actions toward Palestinians continue, the US can keep giving Israel billions of dollars of assistance that Israel dutifully feeds back into the US economy by buying weapons from the US.
Some more benign governments, such as the Norwegians who have the experience and expertise to know better, play along with this dark plot by covering up their own shadowy actions with such slight approaches to the Palestinians that the US-Israel complot is not really disturbed by any real attempts at securing justice for the Palestinians.
More surprising is the role that the Palestinians themselves play. One would think that the Palestinians' own representatives would defend the most fundamental rights of the Palestinian people with all the vigor and strength they can muster.
This assumption was quickly dispelled when the tragedy in Gaza was brought before the UN Human Rights Council last year. When the resolution decided how the Goldstone report would be handled, the Palestinian ambassador in Geneva moved to delay consideration of the resolution. This action was only reversed when Palestinian and international civil society objected to delaying consideration of the report.
The uproar of civil society caused this decision to be reversed, at least as far as the public could know. What really happened is a still unraveling story that has not been detailed even by a commission created by President Mahmoud Abbas.
Instead, the Palestinians' own investigation into how its Geneva representatives could have tried to delay consideration of the dire situation in Gaza was inconclusive. This report had, like the secretary-general’s statement mentioned earlier, a comedic air of confusion around it. It said there was a problem and discussed what we knew about the problem, but refused to point a finger at any senior Palestinian official who was in Ramallah at the time.
Eventually, Abbas stepped forward to take the blame, but the basis for his doing so is not entirely clear. Abbas was not even around Palestine or Geneva at the time. To many observers it was curious that an off-stage actor was claiming credit for the crescendo of a plot of sinister suspense in this already apparently dark comedy.
Perhaps Abbas’ shouldering the blame was the only way that the dark comedy could continue. In the real life of diplomacy, such blunders are not tolerated and diplomats who commit them are quickly banished to posts where they cannot cause such damage. This did not happen in this case. Perhaps this was because the leader, after announcing he is not interested in remaining the leader, took the blame so that such realities could be avoided.
After the fiasco in Geneva, in New York, at UN headquarters, the Palestinian ambassador set about trying to calm the waters while at the same time telling the irate voices of civil society that they should say off the UN stage. A handful of Palestinian civil society actors who dared venture to New York for the General Assembly’s consideration of the Goldstone report in late 2009 were told to stay out of the UN’s handling of this matter. They dutifully obeyed and went home never to return and are certainly not raising their voices with any vigor. Perhaps they had decided that disobeying the ambassador’s demand — in contrast to the acting in all urgency to stop the suffering in Gaza — was the patriotic way to act.
The few members of civil society who persisted in their vocal efforts to ensure justice for the Palestinians in Gaza — who continue to be slaughtered and subjected to inhumane conditions — were snubbed by the ambassador and the Permanent Mission that refused to take their calls or meet with them.
Civil society was effectively relegated to making after-the-fact statements about what should have been done, but had little or no influence over what should be done. As a result, civil society, including Palestinian civil society, has been all but excluded from efforts within the UN to ensure that action is taken to stop the carnage and suffering in Gaza.
The only voices still calling for urgent action seem to be those of the people who are suffering. The people of Gaza and their leaders continue to urge action. But rather than attacking the irrefutable justice of their cries, the Israeli, American, European, and even West Bank Palestinian strategy has been to ignore them and when possible to silence their voices.
While maintaining their own relative humble requests for action, the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank instead continuously emphasize their right to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people. Indeed, the UN and most states recognize the Fatah backed-Palestine Liberation Organization as the only representative of the Palestinian people. The reality is, however, that the PLO today rules not by the mandate of the people of Palestine, but by presidential decree. This situation is even more incredible when one understands that even the president’s own term of office has expired months ago according to the laws of Palestine.
More recently the Palestinian diplomats in Geneva have set about trying to remove a discussion of human rights in Palestine from the agenda of the 13th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council to be held in Geneva starting 1 March 2010. In New York, this action has been complemented by a Palestinian-backed General Assembly resolution that will give Israel another five months to undertake the investigation that they have resolutely and repeatedly refused to undertake for more than a year.
The General Assembly resolution will also give the secretary-general another five months to proffer a report on the inaction despite the fact that his recent reports convincingly indicate that he lacks either the will or the expertise in the secretariat to provide such a report.
Such a confused political situation makes for one of the darkest comedies in recent political history. Not only on center stage, but also in the wings there are plenty of actors contributing to this monumental work in which the pursuit of justice has been made farcical.
The infamous Alan Dershowitz, known more for his irrational defense of Israel than for his academic achievements as an American professor, leads a chorus of observers who bemoan any criticism of Israel. According to Dershowitz, it is Judge Richard Goldstone who should by on trial for having tried to apply the rule of law to the Palestinian people.
Goldstone and his three colleagues have tried to defend their mere articulation of observed and evaluated facts, but the governments at whose leisure they served have made it clear that they must not usurp their authority. This authority, these governments claim, stopped with the presentation of their report. As a consequence, Goldstone and his colleagues' unyielding defense of the extraordinarily comprehensive and articulated report remains an ineffective scene in this dark comedy, instead of being the centerpiece of an effort to ensure justice for Gaza.
It is increasingly appearing that the intention is to allow the situation in Gaza to linger as yet another long-term, unresolved problem on the UN’s long agenda. This plays into the hands of Israel that apparently views the length of it oppressive occupation of the Palestinian people as legitimizing the situation that rises from its illegal actions.
Whatever narrow political advantages the Fatah-led PLO may accrue by allowing their own people to continue to be treated inhumanely, it is doubtful that the Palestinian people will not punish them at the polls. Too many ordinary Palestinians know suffering at the hands of Israelis to allow their own people’s suffering in Gaza to be so easily — and perhaps intentionally — forgotten.
And while the larger international community might avoid the wrath of increasingly impotent American threats, we should not dismiss the damage this does to the rule of international law, to the principles of respect and cooperation that are fundamental to the UN, and to international justice.
Our reaction to Gaza is not only a test of the international community’s commitment to law, fairness and justice, but it is also a test of our humanity. A world that sends billions of dollars, relief workers, and even soldiers to assist the people of Haiti, can not reconcile its ignoring the man-made suffering of millions of Palestinians.
Many observers were fooled by the overwhelming consensus in favor of investigating the shocking crimes committed in Gaza that many of us witnessed first-hand on television screens. Many of us thought that finally Israel’s impunity would be lifted.
It would be remiss to excuse my own optimism from criticism. I indeed believed that the demands of the Palestinian people would be taken seriously in the aftermath of such a tragedy as Gaza.
My hope even increased with the presentation of allegations of international crimes in one of the most thorough reports ever presented to the UN. At least, I thought, the Palestinian peoples’ own representatives — whether from civil society or the authorities — would finally say "enough is enough."
As the UN dithers while people keep dying in Gaza, it appears those of us who believed that things would change were fools for believing that justice could triumph over narrow political agendas.
Even as people are suffering and dying we still seem unable to muster the courage and conviction of our principles to act, but unless we are able to do so this dark comedy in which we find ourselves may continue indefinitely.
The author is an international human rights lawyer and professor of law at An-Najah University in Nablus.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264312
Gaza: A Dark Comedy
When Israel attacked Gaza just over a year ago, the Israeli government undoubtedly believed it could get away with murder with little damage to its reputation. The way that this would happen, however, was probably not envisioned.
Neither the Israeli generals who ordered the attacks on civilians, civilian infrastructure and whatever else was in sight, nor their most unyielding defenders could have foreseen the dark comedy into which they had stepped. While they might have assumed they could act with immunity, they probably did not expect that this immunity would come as much from Palestinian actions as their own.
The one-year history of how the tragedy in Gaza has been handled at the UN today seems to have devolved to a dark comedy. The Israeli government, their supporters, much of the wider international community, and even the Palestinian authorities themselves have all contributed to the surreal compliance with which the ongoing, man-made disaster in Gaza has been handled.
The most recent leading actor in this dark comedy is the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, who responded to a demand by the UN General Assembly that he report on progress being made to investigate the war crimes in Gaza by providing a one-and-a-half-page note essentially saying he wasn’t sure that any progress was being made.
He cited the commitments of the single state involved, as well as those of actors the UN does not yet recognize as states, as indicating that they would undertake proper investigations of the allegations made in the Goldstone report.
At the same time, he appeared to ignore his obligation to recommend what could be done. Instead, he presented a report that is aimless, lacks authority, and seems in need of an investigation itself.
The confusion, unfortunately, is not confined to one isolated UN official. Everyone else in the picture seems to have contributed to making this tragedy a veritable black comedy in which jesters dance while the people of Gaza continue to suffer.
As expected, the Israeli authorities shunned the UN’s authority. Belatedly they appeared to react to the General Assembly with a meager suggestion that maybe two soldiers would be disciplined for the dozens of alleged war crimes that had been documented in the Goldstone report. Even this derisory must have elicited a smile of relief on the faces of observers, but such optimism was short-lived as within hours even this derogatory gesture was proven to be a mere dramatic feigning that the Israeli government quickly denied or retracted depending whether it was genuine in the first place.
No soldier had been or would be disciplined, the Israeli government confirmed. Of course, no Israeli could be found to have committed war crimes despite the overwhelming evidence because that would dent the alleged legitimacy of more than 60 years of foreign and oppressive occupation of the Palestinian people carried out in the name of ancient texts dating back thousands of years.
Also, as one might expect, the US government joined in to ensure that the black comedy did not become a political standard-setter for ensuring the rule of international law. Apparently not even having read the Goldstone report, the US was quick to condemn it. The US Congress even went further by adopting a joint resolution to confirm the government’s irrational fear of the rule of international law when it comes to Israel.
For his part, US President Barack Obama merely continues to virtually avoid the issue. This might be attributable to his chief of staff, who volunteered for the Israeli forces responsible for the occupation of Palestine, Rahm Emmanuel, and who does not want to spoil America’s special relationship with Israel. As long as Israel’s inhumane actions toward Palestinians continue, the US can keep giving Israel billions of dollars of assistance that Israel dutifully feeds back into the US economy by buying weapons from the US.
Some more benign governments, such as the Norwegians who have the experience and expertise to know better, play along with this dark plot by covering up their own shadowy actions with such slight approaches to the Palestinians that the US-Israel complot is not really disturbed by any real attempts at securing justice for the Palestinians.
More surprising is the role that the Palestinians themselves play. One would think that the Palestinians' own representatives would defend the most fundamental rights of the Palestinian people with all the vigor and strength they can muster.
This assumption was quickly dispelled when the tragedy in Gaza was brought before the UN Human Rights Council last year. When the resolution decided how the Goldstone report would be handled, the Palestinian ambassador in Geneva moved to delay consideration of the resolution. This action was only reversed when Palestinian and international civil society objected to delaying consideration of the report.
The uproar of civil society caused this decision to be reversed, at least as far as the public could know. What really happened is a still unraveling story that has not been detailed even by a commission created by President Mahmoud Abbas.
Instead, the Palestinians' own investigation into how its Geneva representatives could have tried to delay consideration of the dire situation in Gaza was inconclusive. This report had, like the secretary-general’s statement mentioned earlier, a comedic air of confusion around it. It said there was a problem and discussed what we knew about the problem, but refused to point a finger at any senior Palestinian official who was in Ramallah at the time.
Eventually, Abbas stepped forward to take the blame, but the basis for his doing so is not entirely clear. Abbas was not even around Palestine or Geneva at the time. To many observers it was curious that an off-stage actor was claiming credit for the crescendo of a plot of sinister suspense in this already apparently dark comedy.
Perhaps Abbas’ shouldering the blame was the only way that the dark comedy could continue. In the real life of diplomacy, such blunders are not tolerated and diplomats who commit them are quickly banished to posts where they cannot cause such damage. This did not happen in this case. Perhaps this was because the leader, after announcing he is not interested in remaining the leader, took the blame so that such realities could be avoided.
After the fiasco in Geneva, in New York, at UN headquarters, the Palestinian ambassador set about trying to calm the waters while at the same time telling the irate voices of civil society that they should say off the UN stage. A handful of Palestinian civil society actors who dared venture to New York for the General Assembly’s consideration of the Goldstone report in late 2009 were told to stay out of the UN’s handling of this matter. They dutifully obeyed and went home never to return and are certainly not raising their voices with any vigor. Perhaps they had decided that disobeying the ambassador’s demand — in contrast to the acting in all urgency to stop the suffering in Gaza — was the patriotic way to act.
The few members of civil society who persisted in their vocal efforts to ensure justice for the Palestinians in Gaza — who continue to be slaughtered and subjected to inhumane conditions — were snubbed by the ambassador and the Permanent Mission that refused to take their calls or meet with them.
Civil society was effectively relegated to making after-the-fact statements about what should have been done, but had little or no influence over what should be done. As a result, civil society, including Palestinian civil society, has been all but excluded from efforts within the UN to ensure that action is taken to stop the carnage and suffering in Gaza.
The only voices still calling for urgent action seem to be those of the people who are suffering. The people of Gaza and their leaders continue to urge action. But rather than attacking the irrefutable justice of their cries, the Israeli, American, European, and even West Bank Palestinian strategy has been to ignore them and when possible to silence their voices.
While maintaining their own relative humble requests for action, the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank instead continuously emphasize their right to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people. Indeed, the UN and most states recognize the Fatah backed-Palestine Liberation Organization as the only representative of the Palestinian people. The reality is, however, that the PLO today rules not by the mandate of the people of Palestine, but by presidential decree. This situation is even more incredible when one understands that even the president’s own term of office has expired months ago according to the laws of Palestine.
More recently the Palestinian diplomats in Geneva have set about trying to remove a discussion of human rights in Palestine from the agenda of the 13th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council to be held in Geneva starting 1 March 2010. In New York, this action has been complemented by a Palestinian-backed General Assembly resolution that will give Israel another five months to undertake the investigation that they have resolutely and repeatedly refused to undertake for more than a year.
The General Assembly resolution will also give the secretary-general another five months to proffer a report on the inaction despite the fact that his recent reports convincingly indicate that he lacks either the will or the expertise in the secretariat to provide such a report.
Such a confused political situation makes for one of the darkest comedies in recent political history. Not only on center stage, but also in the wings there are plenty of actors contributing to this monumental work in which the pursuit of justice has been made farcical.
The infamous Alan Dershowitz, known more for his irrational defense of Israel than for his academic achievements as an American professor, leads a chorus of observers who bemoan any criticism of Israel. According to Dershowitz, it is Judge Richard Goldstone who should by on trial for having tried to apply the rule of law to the Palestinian people.
Goldstone and his three colleagues have tried to defend their mere articulation of observed and evaluated facts, but the governments at whose leisure they served have made it clear that they must not usurp their authority. This authority, these governments claim, stopped with the presentation of their report. As a consequence, Goldstone and his colleagues' unyielding defense of the extraordinarily comprehensive and articulated report remains an ineffective scene in this dark comedy, instead of being the centerpiece of an effort to ensure justice for Gaza.
It is increasingly appearing that the intention is to allow the situation in Gaza to linger as yet another long-term, unresolved problem on the UN’s long agenda. This plays into the hands of Israel that apparently views the length of it oppressive occupation of the Palestinian people as legitimizing the situation that rises from its illegal actions.
Whatever narrow political advantages the Fatah-led PLO may accrue by allowing their own people to continue to be treated inhumanely, it is doubtful that the Palestinian people will not punish them at the polls. Too many ordinary Palestinians know suffering at the hands of Israelis to allow their own people’s suffering in Gaza to be so easily — and perhaps intentionally — forgotten.
And while the larger international community might avoid the wrath of increasingly impotent American threats, we should not dismiss the damage this does to the rule of international law, to the principles of respect and cooperation that are fundamental to the UN, and to international justice.
Our reaction to Gaza is not only a test of the international community’s commitment to law, fairness and justice, but it is also a test of our humanity. A world that sends billions of dollars, relief workers, and even soldiers to assist the people of Haiti, can not reconcile its ignoring the man-made suffering of millions of Palestinians.
Many observers were fooled by the overwhelming consensus in favor of investigating the shocking crimes committed in Gaza that many of us witnessed first-hand on television screens. Many of us thought that finally Israel’s impunity would be lifted.
It would be remiss to excuse my own optimism from criticism. I indeed believed that the demands of the Palestinian people would be taken seriously in the aftermath of such a tragedy as Gaza.
My hope even increased with the presentation of allegations of international crimes in one of the most thorough reports ever presented to the UN. At least, I thought, the Palestinian peoples’ own representatives — whether from civil society or the authorities — would finally say "enough is enough."
As the UN dithers while people keep dying in Gaza, it appears those of us who believed that things would change were fools for believing that justice could triumph over narrow political agendas.
Even as people are suffering and dying we still seem unable to muster the courage and conviction of our principles to act, but unless we are able to do so this dark comedy in which we find ourselves may continue indefinitely.
The author is an international human rights lawyer and professor of law at An-Najah University in Nablus.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264312
26 feb 2010
PCHR expresses 'grave concern' over UNGA action on Goldstone
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) forwarded a letter on Thursday to the president of the UN General Assembly and a number of officials, detailing the organization's "grave concern" regarding the credibility of the investigations carried out by Israel during the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
The letter, sent by PCHR director Raji Sourani, made reference to investigations previously conducted by the UN Board of Inquiry, the Independent Fact Finding Mission mandated by the League of Arab States, along with the UN Fact Finding Mission, which all stressed that Israel perpetrated war crimes and numerous violations of international law.
Many of the war crimes committed by Israel, the reports note, rise to individual criminal responsibility, the organization wrote. The Goldstone report further concluded that the Palestinian side perpetrated war crimes and called upon both the Israeli and the Palestinian side to take appropriate action.
Under a General Assembly resolution passed in November, the sides were given three months to investigate Goldstone's findings and hold perpetrators accountable. In February, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said both sides had been inconclusive in their investigations, but did not recommend further action on the issue. Rights groups slammed Ban’s report as letting accused war criminals off the hook.
The letter affirmed that the Goldstone report constituted a fundamental turning point to show respect for human rights and humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territories, due to measures of accountability included in the recommendations, which should be implemented. PCHR wrote.
"In view of the absence of proven willingness from the Israeli side to conduct the needed investigations, as well as the Palestinians’ inability, measures of international justice should be applied, including a Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the exercise of universal jurisdiction."
PCHR said both parties failed to comply with the period of three months mandated by the UN resolution. "The Center calls upon the General Assembly to take account of the facts, reminding that numerous human rights bodies have stated that delays in effective investigations are equivalent to impunity. The international community must not allow any state to act above the law.
"Moreover, without enforcement of the rule of law, law becomes meaningless; it is Palestinian civilians who suffer the horrific consequences. It is the international community who bears the responsibility."
Commenting on the letter, Sourani said the core of the Goldstone report is relevant to the timeframe of conducting the investigations and the measures of implementation. "Thus, in case the concerned parties failed to comply with conducting these investigations, and they truly failed to do that, the international community should immediately move and take the necessary steps." He added that Israel is unwilling to conduct the investigations in accordance with the Goldstone report.
The UN General Assembly will discuss the Goldstone report on Friday. Issam Yunis, the director of the Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza, said Friday’s vote will be a last-ditch effort “to keep the Goldstone report alive.”
Richard Falk, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said Thursday “I think it's part of the wider effort basically to bury the recommendations of the Goldstone report, unnecessarily delaying the implementation of its recommendations,” in a Ma'an interview.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264263
UNGA passes resolution granting 5 months for Goldstone inquiries
The UN General Assembly in New York voted to give the Israeli and Palestinian governments five additional months to conduct independent investigations of alleged war crimes perpetrated during Israel's war on Gaza last winter, or "further action"could be taken.
The response of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the last meeting of the UNGA after he received reports from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and de facto government in Gaza on the progress they had each made around independent investigations, was met with criticism from Palestinian rights organizations.
Ban, who organizations hoped would reprimand the governments for what they called a clear lack of effort to investigate the Goldstone allegations, failed to act, set benchmarks or expectations for the progress of inquiries.
Following campaigns by several rights organizations and outrage from Palestinians, the UNGA passed a resolution threatening action, possibly referring the issue to the UN Security Council, if parties do not adequately address the charges of war crimes.
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 98-7 with 31 abstentions. There were 56 nations that did not vote.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264514
PCHR expresses 'grave concern' over UNGA action on Goldstone
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) forwarded a letter on Thursday to the president of the UN General Assembly and a number of officials, detailing the organization's "grave concern" regarding the credibility of the investigations carried out by Israel during the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
The letter, sent by PCHR director Raji Sourani, made reference to investigations previously conducted by the UN Board of Inquiry, the Independent Fact Finding Mission mandated by the League of Arab States, along with the UN Fact Finding Mission, which all stressed that Israel perpetrated war crimes and numerous violations of international law.
Many of the war crimes committed by Israel, the reports note, rise to individual criminal responsibility, the organization wrote. The Goldstone report further concluded that the Palestinian side perpetrated war crimes and called upon both the Israeli and the Palestinian side to take appropriate action.
Under a General Assembly resolution passed in November, the sides were given three months to investigate Goldstone's findings and hold perpetrators accountable. In February, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said both sides had been inconclusive in their investigations, but did not recommend further action on the issue. Rights groups slammed Ban’s report as letting accused war criminals off the hook.
The letter affirmed that the Goldstone report constituted a fundamental turning point to show respect for human rights and humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territories, due to measures of accountability included in the recommendations, which should be implemented. PCHR wrote.
"In view of the absence of proven willingness from the Israeli side to conduct the needed investigations, as well as the Palestinians’ inability, measures of international justice should be applied, including a Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the exercise of universal jurisdiction."
PCHR said both parties failed to comply with the period of three months mandated by the UN resolution. "The Center calls upon the General Assembly to take account of the facts, reminding that numerous human rights bodies have stated that delays in effective investigations are equivalent to impunity. The international community must not allow any state to act above the law.
"Moreover, without enforcement of the rule of law, law becomes meaningless; it is Palestinian civilians who suffer the horrific consequences. It is the international community who bears the responsibility."
Commenting on the letter, Sourani said the core of the Goldstone report is relevant to the timeframe of conducting the investigations and the measures of implementation. "Thus, in case the concerned parties failed to comply with conducting these investigations, and they truly failed to do that, the international community should immediately move and take the necessary steps." He added that Israel is unwilling to conduct the investigations in accordance with the Goldstone report.
The UN General Assembly will discuss the Goldstone report on Friday. Issam Yunis, the director of the Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza, said Friday’s vote will be a last-ditch effort “to keep the Goldstone report alive.”
Richard Falk, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said Thursday “I think it's part of the wider effort basically to bury the recommendations of the Goldstone report, unnecessarily delaying the implementation of its recommendations,” in a Ma'an interview.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264263
UNGA passes resolution granting 5 months for Goldstone inquiries
The UN General Assembly in New York voted to give the Israeli and Palestinian governments five additional months to conduct independent investigations of alleged war crimes perpetrated during Israel's war on Gaza last winter, or "further action"could be taken.
The response of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the last meeting of the UNGA after he received reports from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and de facto government in Gaza on the progress they had each made around independent investigations, was met with criticism from Palestinian rights organizations.
Ban, who organizations hoped would reprimand the governments for what they called a clear lack of effort to investigate the Goldstone allegations, failed to act, set benchmarks or expectations for the progress of inquiries.
Following campaigns by several rights organizations and outrage from Palestinians, the UNGA passed a resolution threatening action, possibly referring the issue to the UN Security Council, if parties do not adequately address the charges of war crimes.
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 98-7 with 31 abstentions. There were 56 nations that did not vote.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264514
UNGA passes resolution granting 5 months for Goldstone inquiries
The UN General Assembly in New York voted to give the Israeli and Palestinian governments five additional months to conduct independent investigations of alleged war crimes perpetrated during Israel's war on Gaza last winter, or "further action"could be taken.
The response of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the last meeting of the UNGA after he received reports from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and de facto government in Gaza on the progress they had each made around independent investigations, was met with criticism from Palestinian rights organizations.
Ban, who organizations hoped would reprimand the governments for what they called a clear lack of effort to investigate the Goldstone allegations, failed to act, set benchmarks or expectations for the progress of inquiries.
Following campaigns by several rights organizations and outrage from Palestinians, the UNGA passed a resolution threatening action, possibly referring the issue to the UN Security Council, if parties do not adequately address the charges of war crimes.
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 98-7 with 31 abstentions. There were 56 nations that did not vote.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264514
The UN General Assembly in New York voted to give the Israeli and Palestinian governments five additional months to conduct independent investigations of alleged war crimes perpetrated during Israel's war on Gaza last winter, or "further action"could be taken.
The response of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the last meeting of the UNGA after he received reports from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and de facto government in Gaza on the progress they had each made around independent investigations, was met with criticism from Palestinian rights organizations.
Ban, who organizations hoped would reprimand the governments for what they called a clear lack of effort to investigate the Goldstone allegations, failed to act, set benchmarks or expectations for the progress of inquiries.
Following campaigns by several rights organizations and outrage from Palestinians, the UNGA passed a resolution threatening action, possibly referring the issue to the UN Security Council, if parties do not adequately address the charges of war crimes.
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 98-7 with 31 abstentions. There were 56 nations that did not vote.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264514
25 feb 2010
Expert: UN could 'bury' Goldstone report
By Jared Malsin
A year after Israel's assault on Gaza, bureaucratic wrangling is threatening to bury a UN report that accuses Israel and Palestinian militias of committing war crimes, a UN expert on the issue said on Wednesday.
Richard Falk, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, made the remarks ahead of a Friday vote at the UN General Assembly, which is expected to give Israeli and Palestinian authorities five more months to investigate war crimes charges outlined in the Goldstone report.
“I think it's part of the wider effort basically to bury the recommendations of the Goldstone report, unnecessarily delaying the implementation of its recommendations,” Falk told Ma’an in a phone interview.
As time passes, Falk said, the UN is less likely to hold accused war criminals accountable. The delays “remove the reality of what happened in Gaza from the collective memory of world society.”
The UN-mandated fact-finding mission led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone investigated the possibility of the commission of war crimes during Israel’s three-week assault on Gaza in 2008 and 2009. During the hostilities, more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died. A renowned judge who was the lead international prosecutor in war crimes tribunals in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, Goldstone and his team visited Gaza, interviewed hundreds of witnesses and collected thousands of pages of documents in compiling the report. Israel refused to comply with the investigation.
Goldstone's report found evidence of war crimes, and suggested that the Hamas government, militant factions in Gaza and the Israeli government conduct independent investigations into the allegations. Failing internal tribunals, the report recommended, bodies like the International Criminal Court should be called on to act.
Under a General Assembly resolution passed in November, the sides were given three months to investigate Goldstone's findings and hold perpetrators accountable. In February, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said both sides had been inconclusive in their investigations, but did not recommend further action on the issue. Rights groups slammed Ban’s report as letting accused war criminals off the hook.
An Arab-backed resolution to be put to a vote on Friday calls on Israel and the Palestinians "to conduct investigations that are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards."
It also asks Ban to report back to the assembly "within a period of five months on the implementation of the present resolution, with a view to the consideration of further action, if necessary, by the relevant UN organs and bodies, including the Security Council."
Falk was incredulous about the five-month extension. "There’s no responsible reason for this delay," he said. "It’s been well over a year since the events occurred and there’s been ample scrutiny” of Goldstone’s findings, he added. “It doesn’t seem like an appropriate response."
In Falk’s view, the General Assembly resolution in November left open avenues for international action, but this “depended on the balance of political authority.”
Since the United States is expected to veto any resolution in the UN Security Council on the Gaza report, human rights advocates are seeking ways to implement Goldstone's recommendations through other avenues.
Issam Yunis, the director of the Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza, said Friday’s vote will be a last-ditch effort “to keep the Goldstone report alive.”
“The report should not be dealt with like the hundreds of other reports that are lying on the desks of UN officials,” he said in a phone interview.
Yunis confirmed that Security Council action on the issue is unlikely: “We are not naive; we know the politics of the of the UN.”
But he added, “If there is political will – even without going to the Security Council he [Ban] can proceed. The General Assembly – they can do something.”
Rights advocates believe Ban and other UN organs have come under political pressure from the report’s opponents (Israel and the US) to bury the report, even without a formal US veto in the Security Council.
In a meeting with Ban on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak attacked the Goldstone report as "biased and tendentious document that harms the ability of democratic states to fight terrorist organization, and especially those acting within populated areas.”
"Its only 'achievement'," Barak said, according to Israeli news site Ynet, "was to strengthen terrorist organizations while using civilians as human shields."
In the face of Israeli and US pressure, Falk said of the efforts in the General Assembly are “ultimately … a bureaucratic parallel to the veto that formally exists in the Security Council.”
“It’s a real litmus test of the UN to surmount geopolitical pressures that collide with legal rights.”
But the PLO’s envoy to the UN in New York, Riyad Mansour told Ma'an that the General Assembly resolution is a good-faith attempt to seek accountability for the victims in Gaza.
“The Goldstone report is like a bulldozer and it is moving. Sometimes it is moving fast, sometimes it is moving slow,” Mansour said in a phone interview.
“It’s a process. We’ll continue with these steps until the Israeli criminals face justice and receive the punishment they deserve. This is how we can vindicate the Palestinian victims,” he said adding that he expected Friday’s resolution to pass by a wider margin than the original measure in November
“It’s a tedious process. In the former Yugoslavia it took years to get those who committed the crimes to go before the courts,” he noted.
Mansour also pointed out that the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva (the body that referred the Goldstone report to New York) is slated to take up the report again on Monday. According to Mansour, the rights council will focus on two of the report’s recommendations in particular: setting up a fund to compensate victims, and banning certain types of weapons.
Yunis, the Gaza human rights attorney, said barring a dramatic turnaround in UN politics, his group and others plan to file suits against Israeli leaders in third-country courts.
"A main part of Goldstone’s recommendations is to utilize universal jurisdiction," he said. "We are also considering going to courts in many countries. This is our work together with other other organizations."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264091
Expert: UN could 'bury' Goldstone report
By Jared Malsin
A year after Israel's assault on Gaza, bureaucratic wrangling is threatening to bury a UN report that accuses Israel and Palestinian militias of committing war crimes, a UN expert on the issue said on Wednesday.
Richard Falk, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, made the remarks ahead of a Friday vote at the UN General Assembly, which is expected to give Israeli and Palestinian authorities five more months to investigate war crimes charges outlined in the Goldstone report.
“I think it's part of the wider effort basically to bury the recommendations of the Goldstone report, unnecessarily delaying the implementation of its recommendations,” Falk told Ma’an in a phone interview.
As time passes, Falk said, the UN is less likely to hold accused war criminals accountable. The delays “remove the reality of what happened in Gaza from the collective memory of world society.”
The UN-mandated fact-finding mission led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone investigated the possibility of the commission of war crimes during Israel’s three-week assault on Gaza in 2008 and 2009. During the hostilities, more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died. A renowned judge who was the lead international prosecutor in war crimes tribunals in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, Goldstone and his team visited Gaza, interviewed hundreds of witnesses and collected thousands of pages of documents in compiling the report. Israel refused to comply with the investigation.
Goldstone's report found evidence of war crimes, and suggested that the Hamas government, militant factions in Gaza and the Israeli government conduct independent investigations into the allegations. Failing internal tribunals, the report recommended, bodies like the International Criminal Court should be called on to act.
Under a General Assembly resolution passed in November, the sides were given three months to investigate Goldstone's findings and hold perpetrators accountable. In February, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said both sides had been inconclusive in their investigations, but did not recommend further action on the issue. Rights groups slammed Ban’s report as letting accused war criminals off the hook.
An Arab-backed resolution to be put to a vote on Friday calls on Israel and the Palestinians "to conduct investigations that are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards."
It also asks Ban to report back to the assembly "within a period of five months on the implementation of the present resolution, with a view to the consideration of further action, if necessary, by the relevant UN organs and bodies, including the Security Council."
Falk was incredulous about the five-month extension. "There’s no responsible reason for this delay," he said. "It’s been well over a year since the events occurred and there’s been ample scrutiny” of Goldstone’s findings, he added. “It doesn’t seem like an appropriate response."
In Falk’s view, the General Assembly resolution in November left open avenues for international action, but this “depended on the balance of political authority.”
Since the United States is expected to veto any resolution in the UN Security Council on the Gaza report, human rights advocates are seeking ways to implement Goldstone's recommendations through other avenues.
Issam Yunis, the director of the Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza, said Friday’s vote will be a last-ditch effort “to keep the Goldstone report alive.”
“The report should not be dealt with like the hundreds of other reports that are lying on the desks of UN officials,” he said in a phone interview.
Yunis confirmed that Security Council action on the issue is unlikely: “We are not naive; we know the politics of the of the UN.”
But he added, “If there is political will – even without going to the Security Council he [Ban] can proceed. The General Assembly – they can do something.”
Rights advocates believe Ban and other UN organs have come under political pressure from the report’s opponents (Israel and the US) to bury the report, even without a formal US veto in the Security Council.
In a meeting with Ban on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak attacked the Goldstone report as "biased and tendentious document that harms the ability of democratic states to fight terrorist organization, and especially those acting within populated areas.”
"Its only 'achievement'," Barak said, according to Israeli news site Ynet, "was to strengthen terrorist organizations while using civilians as human shields."
In the face of Israeli and US pressure, Falk said of the efforts in the General Assembly are “ultimately … a bureaucratic parallel to the veto that formally exists in the Security Council.”
“It’s a real litmus test of the UN to surmount geopolitical pressures that collide with legal rights.”
But the PLO’s envoy to the UN in New York, Riyad Mansour told Ma'an that the General Assembly resolution is a good-faith attempt to seek accountability for the victims in Gaza.
“The Goldstone report is like a bulldozer and it is moving. Sometimes it is moving fast, sometimes it is moving slow,” Mansour said in a phone interview.
“It’s a process. We’ll continue with these steps until the Israeli criminals face justice and receive the punishment they deserve. This is how we can vindicate the Palestinian victims,” he said adding that he expected Friday’s resolution to pass by a wider margin than the original measure in November
“It’s a tedious process. In the former Yugoslavia it took years to get those who committed the crimes to go before the courts,” he noted.
Mansour also pointed out that the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva (the body that referred the Goldstone report to New York) is slated to take up the report again on Monday. According to Mansour, the rights council will focus on two of the report’s recommendations in particular: setting up a fund to compensate victims, and banning certain types of weapons.
Yunis, the Gaza human rights attorney, said barring a dramatic turnaround in UN politics, his group and others plan to file suits against Israeli leaders in third-country courts.
"A main part of Goldstone’s recommendations is to utilize universal jurisdiction," he said. "We are also considering going to courts in many countries. This is our work together with other other organizations."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264091
