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Goldstone Report

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Bridget

Posted: Apr 16 2009, 09:48 AM

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Israel will not cooperate with UN Gaza inquiry
Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:30am EDT

JERUSALEM, April 15 (Reuters) - Israel does not plan to cooperate with a U.N. agency's investigation into alleged war crimes by Israeli troops and Hamas militants during fighting in Gaza, an Israeli government official said on Wednesday.

Israeli forces launched a 22-day offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in late December with the stated goal of stopping cross-border rockets fired by Palestinian militants.

According to a Palestinian rights group, 1,417 Palestinians, including 926 civilians, were killed in the fighting. Israel disputes those figures.

The United Nations Human Rights Council appointed former U.N. war crimes prosector Richard Goldstone this month to head the investigation into allegations of human rights violations by both sides during the Dec. 27 to Jan. 18 conflict.

The Israeli government official said a letter was sent to Goldstone, a South African judge, through the Israeli embassy in Geneva informing him and the council that Israel believed it was "impossible to cooperate with the committee" in its inquiry.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on Jan. 12 condemning Israel's military offensive and calling for its cessation was not supported by most democratic countries.

Hamas has not voiced opposition to Goldstone's inquiry but has yet to say whether it will cooperate. Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged the United States and the European Union to pressure Israel and Hamas to go along with the investigation.

Goldstone's four-member team is expected to travel to the region in a few weeks and will issue a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in July, the investigator said this month.

Human rights groups have criticised Israel's conduct during the Gaza offensive and called for an investigation into possible war crimes.

In addition to looking at Israel's conduct, Goldstone has said his inquiry would assess possible Palestinian violations of human rights. Militants fired hundreds of rockets into southern Israel during the fighting. (Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Robert Woodward)

Bridget

Posted: May 30 2009, 11:22 AM

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Last update - 16:09 29/05/2009
UN probe of Gaza war to begin next week
By The Associated Press

The United Nations says a team of independent experts mandated to probe alleged war crimes in Israel and Gaza will leave for the Middle East over the weekend.

UN spokesman Rolando Gomez says the mission led by veteran prosecutor Richard Goldstone is expected to start its work next week.

Gomez told reporters in Geneva Friday that Goldstone has repeatedly asked the Israeli government to cooperate with his mission.

Israel said Friday that it will not cooperate with a United Nations team appointed to investigate alleged war crimes committed during its 22-day offensive in Gaza.

"This committee has been instructed to find Israel guilty no matter what and there is no point in cooperating with such a masquerade," said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor.

Israel and other nations such as Canada have accused the UN Human Rights Council - which mandated the fact-finding mission in a January resolution passed by 33 in favor, one against and 13 abstentions - of overtly singling it out.

The resolution which gave the UN team its mandate "is profoundly biased," Palmor claimed - pointing out it has only ordered a probe only into alleged Israeli violations, while ignoring Hamas, the radical Islamist movement ruling Gaza.

Israel launched the December 27 to January 18 offensive in Gaza in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants from the coastal salient at its southern towns and villages.

Israel has described the probe as intrinsically flawed because it was ordered by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council, which has an anti-Israeli track record.

Goldstone has indicated he will attempt to enter Gaza via Egypt if not allowed in through Israel.

He also said he wants his team to examine both sides of the January
conflict.

Bridget

Posted: Sep 15 2009, 11:55 PM

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UN Gaza report accuses Israel and Hamas of war crimes

Inquiry into Gaza conflict singles out Israeli policy towards Palestinians for most serious condemnation

* Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 September 2009 18.45 BST

Israeli soldiers cross the border into Gaza during the war in January.

Israel's offensive against Gaza last January was "a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorise a civilian population", for which some Israelis should face "individual criminal responsibility", a UN investigation has found.

The inquiry, led by the former South African judge Richard Goldstone, concluded that both the Israeli military and Hamas committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the three-week conflict, but singled out Israel and its policy towards the Palestinians of Gaza for the most serious condemnation. The inquiry rejected Israel's argument that the war was a response to Palestinian rocket fire and therefore an act of self-defence.

In a 575-page report (pdf), released tonight, the inquiry said Israel should be required to investigate the allegations raised and if it fails to do so the case should be passed to the prosecutor of the international criminal court. It accused Israel of "grave breaches" of the fourth Geneva convention and of a war crime for using Palestinians as human shields during the fighting.

Israel refused to co-operate with the inquiry, arguing that the UN human rights council, which commissioned the study, is biased against Israel. "Both the mandate of the mission and the resolution establishing it prejudged the outcome of any investigation, gave legitimacy to the Hamas terrorist organisation and disregarded the deliberate Hamas strategy of using Palestinian civilians as cover for launching terrorist attacks," the Israeli foreign ministry said.

But Goldstone, who is Jewish and has strong links with Israel, defended the work of the four-person team. "There should be no impunity for international crimes that are committed," he said. "It's very important that justice should be done."

He rejected any suggestion of bias: "To accuse me of being anti-Israel is ridiculous." He said it was in the interests of both Israel and the Palestinians for the truth to be established.

Goldstone's team looked in detail at 36 incidents during the war. It studied the deaths of 22 members of the Samouni family who, following instructions from Israeli soldiers, were sheltering in a house in Zeitoun, east of Gaza City. The house was then hit by Israeli fire. The killings were a grave breach of the fourth Geneva convention, the inquiry said.

It found seven incidents in which civilians were shot while leaving their homes, waving white flags and sometimes following instructions from Israeli soldiers.

A "direct and intentional attack" on the al-Quds hospital, in the south of Gaza City, which left the building seriously damaged and forced the evacuation of patients, may amount to a war crime.

The report was critical of Palestinian armed groups, saying their rocket fire did not distinguish between civilian and military targets in Israel, caused terror among civilians and amounted to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.

It said Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured near Gaza more than three years ago, should be released.

numeral

Posted: Sep 17 2009, 10:01 PM

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http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/16/un_inquiry_finds_israel_punished_and

Norman Finkelstein on the Goldstone intervewed by Amy Goodman

Bridget

Posted: Sep 19 2009, 09:08 AM

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Israel's Gaza blockade crippling reconstruction

Eight months after war, import restrictions are delaying aid and causing 'de-development', leaked UN report says

* Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 September 2009 14.58 BST

user posted image

A Palestinian family, whose house was destroyed during Israel's offensive on the Gaza strip, break their day-long Ramadan fast.

A leaked UN report has warned that Israel's continued economic blockade of Gaza and lengthy delays in delivering humanitarian aid are "devastating livelihoods" and causing gradual "de-development".

For more than two years, Gaza has been under severe Israeli restrictions, preventing all exports and confining imports to a limited supply of humanitarian goods.

Now, eight months after the end of the Gaza war, much reconstruction work is still to be done because materials are either delayed or banned from entering the strip.

The UN report, obtained by the Guardian, reveals the delays facing the delivery of even the most basic aid. On average, it takes 85 days to get shelter kits into Gaza, 68 days to deliver health and paediatric hygiene kits, and 39 days for household items such as bedding and kitchen utensils.

Among the many items delayed are notebooks and textbooks for children returning to school. As many as 120 truckloads of stationery were "stranded" in the West Bank and Israel due to "ongoing delays in approval".

There were "continued difficulties" in importing English textbooks for grades four to nine � affecting 130,000 children � and material used to print textbooks for several subjects in grades one to nine.

Government schools were reported to lack paper and chalk, while the UN Relief and Works Agency, which supports Palestinian refugees and runs many schools in Gaza, was still waiting to import 4,000 desks and 5,000 chairs.

The UN says the current situation "contravenes" a UN security council resolution passed during the war in January, which called for "unimpeded provision and distribution" of humanitarian aid for Gaza.

"The result is a gradual process of de-development across all sectors, devastating livelihoods, increasing unemployment and resulting in increased aid dependency amongst the population," says the report from the UN Office of the Humanitarian Co-ordinator.

According to UN statistics, around 70% of Gazans live on less than a dollar a day, 75% rely on food aid and 60% have no daily access to water. As many as 20,000 Palestinians are still displaced after the war, most living with relatives or renting apartments.

Among the most urgent needs is glass to repair shattered windows before the winter rains. Glass, along with other construction materials, is one of the many items banned by Israel from entering the strip. The UN also wanted to deliver agricultural products to reach farmers in time for their main planting season over the next few months. Industrial fuel was required for the power plant, along with bank notes for aid projects and salaries.

In June and July, there was a slight relaxation of the restrictions, allowing in small amounts of agricultural fertilizers, glass, aluminium, cattle and tools for repairing houses. Plastic pipes have been allowed in but only 69% of the water network that was damaged during the war has so far been repaired.

The UN said that, despite this "ad hoc" easing of the blockade, it found "no significant improvement in the quantity and scope of goods allowed into Gaza". Imports are 80% down on the period before the blockade, and most of what does enter Gaza is from a narrow range of food and hygiene items.

Israel began putting restrictions on Gaza after Hamas won the Palestinian elections in early 2006, and imposed the blockade in June 2007 after the party seized control of the strip.

Egypt has also kept its border with Gaza largely closed, though growing quantities of goods, including fridges and even small cars, are smuggled in from Egypt through tunnels. The UN said the high cost of these goods meant that only wealthier Gazans benefitted, with "little trickle-down effect for the vast majority of the population".

A spokesman for Israel's co-ordinator of government activities in the territories did not respond to calls for comment yesterday. The Israeli military sends journalists near-daily text messages noting the number of delivery trucks scheduled to enter Gaza.

On most working days, between 70 and 100 trucks are due to cross � a number which aid agencies say is still well short of that required. The average flow of 9,500 trucks a month entering Gaza in late 2005 was also considered insufficient.

In July this year, only 2,231 trucks crossed the blockade.

Bridget

Posted: Oct 1 2009, 12:07 PM

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UN: US, EU Undermine Justice for Gaza Conflict
Goldstone Report Offers Chance to End Impunity

September 30, 2009

"The US effort to dismiss the Goldstone report was downright shameful for an administration that claims to promote the rule of law and accountability for war crimes...It was also deeply disappointing that key EU governments did not seize this valuable opportunity to demand justice for victims on both sides of the conflict. The report's detailed findings and its careful recommendations deserve support, not dismissal and silence."
Juliette de Rivero, Geneva director

(Geneva) - The failure of the United States and European Union governments to endorse the report of the Gaza fact-finding mission sends a message that serious laws-of-war violations will be treated with kid gloves when committed by an ally, Human Rights Watch said today. On September 29, 2009 Justice Richard Goldstone presented the mission's report on the conflict in Gaza last December and January to the UN Human Rights Council.

Goldstone called on council members to endorse the report's recommendations, including those designed to ensure accountability for serious violations of the laws of war during the Gaza conflict by involving the stature and clout of the UN Security Council. In opposing that key recommendation, the United States resorted to calling the report "unbalanced" and "deeply flawed," but provided no real facts to support those assertions.

In fact, the report reflects a sober, careful assessment of the violations committed by both sides in the conflict, which closely corresponds to findings by Human Rights Watch and other independent groups. A statement read by the Swedish ambassador on behalf of the European Union recognized the seriousness of the report but also failed to endorse its conclusions or recommendations. EU countries on the council, including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, remained silent about the report.

"The US effort to dismiss the Goldstone report was downright shameful for an administration that claims to promote the rule of law and accountability for war crimes," said Juliette de Rivero, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch. "It was also deeply disappointing that key EU governments did not seize this valuable opportunity to demand justice for victims on both sides of the conflict. The report's detailed findings and its careful recommendations deserve support, not dismissal and silence."

The 575-page report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, released on September 15, concluded that both Israel and Hamas were responsible for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. The report recommended that the Israeli government and Hamas authorities conduct independent, impartial investigations within six months. Should the UN Security Council find that they failed to do so, the report urged it to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael Posner told the Human Rights Council on September 29 that the "unbalanced recommendations taint many of the report's suggestions for international action." He said that because Israel was a democracy with a well-established commitment to rule of law, it had "the institutions and ability to carry out robust investigations into these allegations." He also noted that Israel had publicly announced that it was already investigating at least 100 complaints related to the Gaza conflict.

Human Rights Watch said that Posner ignored Israel's long history of failing to impartially investigate and prosecute members of its security forces implicated in serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. According to Israeli human rights groups, from 2000 to September 2008, Israel convicted only five soldiers of wrongful killings of Palestinians during a period when more than 2,200 Palestinian civilians were killed by the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel's current investigations, all undertaken by the military, show little sign of being either effective or impartial. Nine months since the conflict ended, Israel is known to have interviewed only two Palestinian witnesses to any of the alleged crimes in Gaza, and convicted only one soldier, sentencing him to seven months in prison for the theft of a credit card.

"The stated US belief in Israel's willingness to seriously investigate itself reflects a disappointing refusal to confront reality," de Rivero said. "The US is missing an important opportunity: by letting Israel off the hook, it's also letting Hamas off the hook."

The United States has argued that adopting the Goldstone report and its recommendations would disrupt its efforts to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. But Goldstone reminded the council that ignoring attacks on civilians will undermine efforts for peace. The international community must confront the realities in the report, he said, and thereby "find a meaningful basis for the pursuit of peace and security."

Bridget

Posted: Oct 3 2009, 12:41 AM

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UN delays action on Gaza war report

Palestinian leaders drop backing for resolution on document critical of Israel and Hamas

* Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem and agencies in Geneva
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 October 2009 12.15 BST

Richard Goldstone: UN has put off action on his report.

The UN today put off action on a report criticising Israel's actions during the war in Gaza after Palestinian leaders suddenly dropped their support for a resolution, apparently under heavy US pressure.

The decision marked a surprising reversal in the Palestinian position which, until now, had backed the findings of the report by the South African judge Richard Goldstone.

Goldstone accused both Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas of war crimes during the three-week conflict.

He was particularly critical of Israel, both for its conduct of the war and its continued occupation of Palestinian territory.

The UN human rights council in Geneva had been due to vote today on whether to pass the Goldstone report to the UN security council for further action.

That vote will now be delayed until the council meets next, in March next year.

Israel had strongly rejected the findings of the Goldstone report as biased, even though it also criticised the actions of Hamas.

The US administration said it had "very serious concerns" about Goldstone's recommendations, which included a call for the UN security council to investigate and raised the possibility of investigation by the international criminal court and judges from individual countries.

The Palestinians do not have a seat on the 47-member human rights council, but Arab and Muslim countries with council seats had been expected to push for the report to be endorsed.

The Palestinian reversal came after "intense diplomacy" by Washington, which told the Palestinians that going ahead with the vote would harm efforts to restart peace talks with the Israelis, according to diplomats quoted by news agencies.

"The Palestinians recognised that this was not the best time to go forward with this," the official said.

Some western countries, including the US, were also thought to be concerned about the precedent that would be set by such international investigations into wartime actions.

However, Imad Zuhairi, the deputy Palestinian ambassador in Geneva, said the report "remains alive" and would be debated next spring. The delay "is not a victory for Israel", he added.

It is understood that the Palestinians had helped draft a motion endorsing the Goldstone report and its recommendations, but that it became clear that the US, Japan and those European countries on the human rights council would not support the motion.

It was then decided to postpone the motion rather than have it voted down or vetoed.

Ghassan Khatib, the head of the Palestinian Authority's media centre, said the Palestinians still supported the Goldstone report.

"There is no change in the Palestinian position," he added. "Palestinian officials didn't backtrack from the position they declared, which is that they expect the human rights council to adopt the report and that the UN should do whatever it takes to ensure the implementation of its recommendations."

It appeared that the Palestinian leadership was reluctant to lose the chance to return to peace negotiations with Israel and unwilling to try other steps to put pressure on Israel such as international legal action.

Robert Blecher, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, said a similar decision had been taken last week when the Palestinians agreed to meet the Israelis in New York despite Israel's decision not to accept their call for a full halt to settlement construction.

"This is a further indication that the current Palestinian leadership is not considering any options except for negotiation and in that sense the climbdown, like the climbdown in the meeting in New York city, is not unexpected � just the speed with which it was taken," he said.

Israel refused to co-operate with Goldstone's investigations, not even granting him entry to the country.

It then launched an intense diplomatic and public relations operation against his report, particularly after efforts this week in Britain to have an arrest warrant issued against Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister who oversaw the Gaza war.

Yesterday, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said an endorsement of the Goldstone report would "strike a fatal blow against the peace process" and deny Israel's "right to self-defence".

Goldstone defended his work against Netanyahu's criticism, saying: "I think he got wrong what our report is all about.

"He talked about Israel's right to self-defence. That is not what the report was about."

He said both sides in the conflict had violated international law by targeting civilians.

Earlier in the week, he had told the human rights council that he wanted a "transparent, open investigation" by both sides into the allegations made in his report.

The 575-page report found that some Israelis should face "individual criminal responsibility" and that both sides had committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.

The three-week war, which left 1,387 Palestinians dead, according to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, and killed 13 Israelis, triggered criticism across the world.

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