Tag: Gaza

Report: Olmert, Livni may face war crimes charges in Norway

Ha’aretz

22 April 2009

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert and opposition leader Tzipi Livni may face war crimes charges in Norway over their role in Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza, AFP reported Tuesday.

The news agency said six Norwegian lawyers announced plans Tuesday to accuse the pair, as well as Defense Minister Ehud Barak and seven senior Israel Defense Forces officers, of the crimes.

The lawyers, who planned to file their complaint with Norway’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday, were quoted as saying they would also call for the arrest and extradition of the Israeli leaders.

Under the Norwegian penal code, courts may hear cases involving war crimes and other major violations of human rights.

The lawyers released a statement quoted by AFP accusing Israel of “massive terrorist attacks” in the Gaza Strip from December 27 last year to January 25, killing civilians, illegally using weapons against civilian targets and deliberately attacking hospitals and medical staff.

“There can be no doubt that these subjects knew about, ordered or approved the actions in Gaza and that they had considered the consequences of these actions,” the lawyers’ statement said.

It also said the lawyers were representing a number of people living in Norway.

“It involves three people of Palestinian origin living in Norway and 20 families who lost loved ones or property during the attack,” one of the lawyers, Kjell Brygfjeld, told AFP.

Israel’s stated goal in the three-week offensive was the halting of the cross-border rocket attacks from Gaza.

Gaza officials have said over 1,300 Palestinians died during the campaign, a majority of whom were civilians. But the Israel Defense Forces has disputed these claims, stating that the vast majority of the dead were Hamas militants.

Israeli forces abduct Gazan fishermen

ISM Gaza | Fishing Under Fire

21 April 2009

At least 4 Palestinian fishermen were abducted and 2 fishing boats stolen today by the Israeli navy in yet another act of piracy. According to initial unconfirmed information provided by their colleagues, the abducted hassaka fishermen are Khader Al Saedee and Saleem Al Noaman from Gaza, while Raed Athman and Mohammed Awada are from Rafah and were onboard a motor hassaka.

Since the end of the recent onslaught on Gaza, at least 28 fishermen have been abducted, 13 fishing boats stolen and not returned and at least 5 fishermen have been injured in the sea whilst others have reportedly been injured on the shore.

Israeli refusal to cooperate with United Nations investigation represents an attempt to shield alleged war criminals from justice

Palestinian Center for Human Rights

21 April 2009

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is concerned at recent Israeli statements implying that the State of Israel will not cooperate with the independent investigation established by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The investigation is led by Justice Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Both tribunals were established by the United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The independent fact finding mission is mandated to investigate all violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law, related to the recent 23 day Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The offensive claimed the lives of 1,417 Palestinians, 1,181 (83%) of whom were non-combatants: the protected persons of IHL. 13 Israelis also died, including 3 civilians. Civilian property in the Gaza Strip was extensively destroyed, initial investigations indicate that 21,000 houses were completely or partially destroyed, 6,636 dunums of agricultural land were razed, and approximately 1,500 factories and workshops were completely destroyed.

The excessively disproportionate civilian death toll and the extensive destruction of Gaza’s property and infrastructure demand judicial review. Many of the cases documented by PCHR amount to war crimes, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.

PCHR believe that Israel’s unwillingness to cooperate with this independent investigation represents an attempt to shield alleged perpetrators of war crimes from justice. Israel has consistently proven unwilling to effectively investigate serious allegations of illegal behaviour committed by its forces in the occupied Palestinian territory.

On 30 March 2009, Military Attorney General Achivai Mandelblit closed an investigation into Israeli soldiers accounts of alleged crimes committed in the Gaza Strip. Although the soldiers had made allegations that including war crimes and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, the inquiry was terminated after just 11 days.

On 29 January 2009, the Central Investigative Judge No. 4 of the Audencia Nacional (Spanish National Court) ruled that Israeli authorities were not willing to investigate and bring to trial persons responsible for the Shehadeh assassination in 2002.

Since the outbreak of the second Intifada, Israel no longer opens a mandatory investigation into cases where Israeli forces killed or wounded Palestinian civilians not taking part in hostilities.

PCHR believe that the rule of law must be upheld: it is civilians who suffer the consequences of illegal acts. A lack of accountability and a culture of impunity only serve to encourage continued violations of IHL and international human rights law.

PCHR remind the State of Israel of its legally-binding obligation – as codified in Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention – to effectively investigate and prosecute all those suspected of committing grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. Should Israel prove unable or unwilling to do so, as is evidently the case, then in accordance with the principle of universal jurisdiction, all High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions are obliged to search for and prosecute persons accused of committing grave breaches, irrespective of where theses crimes occurred. There is no valid pretext, legal or otherwise, for not respecting the Conventions in their entirety.

Israel snubs UN Gaza war inquiry

Al Jazeera

16 April 2009

Al Jazeera: Israel snubs UN Gaza war inquiry

An Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson has confirmed to Al Jazeera that it will not co-operate with a United Nations investigation into alleged war crimes during the 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip.

Up to 1,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed before Israel ended the offensive in January.

Thirteen Israelis, 10 of them soldiers, were killed during the same period.

The UN Human Rights Council has appointed Richard Goldstone, a South African judge and former UN war crimes prosecutor, to examine claims of human rights violations by both Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters during the conflict.

Israel has previously complained that the UN body is biased against it.

“The investigation has no moral ground since it decided even before it started who is guilty and of what,” Yigal Palmor, a foreign ministry spokesman, said earlier this month.

Imprecise artillery

Human rights groups have called for the UN investigation to look into allegations that the Israeli fired imprecise artillery and controversial white phosphorus shells in built-up neighbourhoods.

It is also expected to examine the indiscriminate firing of rocket into southern Israel by Palestinian fighters, Israel’s stated reason for launching the offensive last December.

Sporadic rocket fire into Israel has continued since the war, and on Thursday Israel bombed a house in a Gaza refugee camp. No casualties were reported.

Goldstone’s four-member team is expected to travel to the region in a few weeks’ time and will issue a report to the council in July.

But Israel’s refusal to work with the investigators raises questions about whether an adequate investigation can be completed.

However, Israel said that Goldstone, who is Jewish and has close ties to Israel, is not the problem.

“[It’s] not about Justice Goldstone,” Aharon Leshno Yaar, the Israeli ambassador to UN organisations in Geneva, said on Tuesday.

“It’s clear to everybody who follows this council and the way that it treats Israel that justice cannot be the outcome of this mission.”

‘Imaprtiality’

In New York, a leading human rights group urged both sides to co-operate.

Human Rights Watch, noted that it has criticised the UN rights council in the past “for its exclusive focus on Israeli rights violations”.

However, Goldstone has the “experience and proven commitment to ensure that this inquiry will demonstrate the highest standards of impartiality,” the group wrote in a letter to Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and 27 European foreign ministers.

Hamas has already welcomed the investigation.

The investigators “will find full co-operation of the Palestinian government and Palestinian people because the crimes of the occupation are clear and no one can underestimate them”, Yousef Rizka, an adviser to Ismail Haniya, the de facto prime minister in Gaza, said.

Israel is co-operating with a separate investigation into several attacks on UN facilities during the conflict, including one which destroyed a warehouse belonging to the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides food aid for the Gazans.