Goldstone defends UN Gaza report
UN investigator Richard Goldstone has defended his damning report on Israel's conduct in during its operation Gaza.
As the UN human rights watchdog debated the report, which accused
Israel and Hamas of war crimes, he rejected what he called a "barrage
of criticism".
A US official dubbed the report "deeply flawed". Israel dismissed it as biased.
Separately, a UK court has rejected an attempt by a Palestinian group
to have Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak arrested for alleged war
crimes.
Under the principle of universal jurisdiction, war crimes suspects can
be tried in British courts. But the British court ruled that Mr Barak
had diplomatic immunity.
A slew of critical reports have raised concerns that Israel and
Palestinian militants may have committed war crimes during the 22-day
Israeli offensive in Gaza.
The Goldstone report, widely lauded by human rights groups, accuses
both Israel and its militant Palestinian adversary Hamas of war crimes
in the campaign.
Mr Goldstone rejected what he called a "barrage of criticism" about his
findings and public attacks against the members of his mission.
"We will not address these attacks as we believe that the answers to
those who have criticised us are in the findings of the report," he
said.
Human Rights Watch criticised the failure of either the US or the
European Union to endorse the report as "a message that serious
laws-of-war violations will be treated with kid gloves when committed
by an ally".
'Careful review'
“ The Obama administration cannot demand accountability for serious
violations in places like Sudan and Congo but let allies like Israel go
free ”
Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch
The 574-page report was written by a four-judge commission led by South African judge Richard Goldstone.
It accused both the Israeli army and Palestinian militants of deliberately terrorising and killing civilians on the other side.
It urged the UN Security Council to refer allegations to the
International Criminal Court (ICC) if either side failed to investigate
and prosecute suspects.
The US had already rejected recommendations regarding the UN Security Council, saying it should not even discuss the matter.
Israel refused to co-operate with investigations and has rejected the findings as "flawed" and "biased".
The debate was seen as a test of US engagement with the Human Rights Council, which was shunned by President George W Bush.
Human Rights Watch, one of a number of NGOs that endorsed the report, has urged the administration to reverse its position.
"The Obama administration cannot demand accountability for serious
violations in places like Sudan and Congo but let allies like Israel go
free," said HRW's Sarah Leah Whitson.
Serious violations
The enquiry found evidence "indicating serious violations of
international human rights and humanitarian law were committed by
Israel during the Gaza conflict".
Israel's operations, the document states, "were carefully planned in
all their phases as a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to
punish, humiliate and terrorise a civilian population".
The report also found evidence Palestinian groups committed war crimes,
and possibly crimes against humanity, in repeated indiscriminate rocket
and mortars attacks on Israel.
Israeli Ambassador Aharon Leshno-Yaar said the report was "shameful",
claiming it cherry-picked incidents for political effect, ignoring
Israel's right to defend itself.
Hamas called the report "political, biased and dishonest" as it put
people "who resist" crimes "on the same level as those who perpetrate"
them.
The Israeli military has carried out more than 100 investigations into
allegations of abuses by in Gaza. Most were dismissed as "baseless" but
23 criminal investigations are still ongoing.
The Human Rights Council was founded three years ago, after criticism
of its predecessor that it turned a blind eye to many human rights
abuses while having an in-built anti-Israel bias.
The Bush administration took no part in the new body, but the Obama
administration sought a seat on the council after it came to power in
January.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8280181.stm
Published: 2009/09/30 09:26:19 GMT
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