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World Jewish News
UN urged to probe alleged Israeli and Palestinian war crimes in Gaza
16.03.2009
Sixteen prominent jurists have called on the United Nations to launch an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israeli troops and Palestinian armed groups during the recent Gaza war, according to a statement released Monday.
In an open letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the members of the Security Council, the petitioners say they have been "shocked to the core" by events in Gaza and ask world leaders to send an unfaltering signal that the targeting of civilians during conflict is unacceptable by any party on any count.
The letter is supported by Amnesty International and signed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and investigators who worked in Kosovo, Darfur, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and other places.
It calls for a UN commission of inquiry with an impartial mandate that can recommend potential avenues for prosecution, should violations be found.
Israel said it launched its Gaza offensive to stop years of Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli towns. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week war, including to 900 civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Thirteen Israelis also died, including three civilians.
Both sides have faced - and staunchly denied - war crimes allegations since the war ended in late January, Israel for using disproportionate force and failing to protect civilians, Hamas for firing rockets at civilian areas and using human shields.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said there was no evidence Israeli troops had committed war crimes. He said such allegations were based on political agendas and questioned why there had been no such charges during the years of Hamas rocket fire before the war.
"The fact that they were silent during the years of Hamas rockets and are now launching a call based on rumors in itself raises questions," he said.
Hamas spokesmen could not be reached for comment, though they have previously denied its men fought from civilian areas and called the rockets a means of self-defense.
William Schabas, professor of human rights law at the National University of Ireland and a signatory to the letter, said the UN Security Council could establish a commission of inquiry, as it did for the conflicts in Lebanon, Rwanda and Yugoslavia.
"The international community must apply the same standard to Gaza as it does to other conflicts and investigate all abuses of the laws of war and human rights," he said.
The UN General Assembly could also set up a commission, he said.
Any eventual prosecution would depend on what such a commission found, he said, though the signatories hope that accountability will deter future violations.
"In terms of preventing violations of international law, as long as you have the threat, you're half way there," Schabas said.
Источник: Haaretz
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