In an oral statement before the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC)
Time for Accountability:
Israel should be held accountable for crimes in Gaza
Press Release
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) commends the astute and depoliticized assessment of violations of international law in a report by Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian occupied territories, on the Israeli offensive on Gaza launched earlier this year. The report officially accuses Israel of committing war crimes “of the greatest magnitude” in Gaza including directing direct and indiscriminate attacks on densely inhabited civilian areas.
In an oral intervention made on March 24, 2009 before the HRC, CIHRS expressed its support of Falk’s recommendations in which he called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to initiate an investigation into the war crimes committed in Gaza.
CIHRS further stressed that the international community as a whole should call for holding Israel accountable for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the occupied Palestinian territories. CIHRS pointed out that the Security Council, as recommended by the Special Rapporteur, is obligated to ensure that international law is respected by Israel, including – if necessary – by establishing an ad hoc tribunal to investigate and prosecute any war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel within the OPTs.
CIHRS moreover emphasized that as stipulated under Art. 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, all High Contracting Parties have an individual responsibility to search for and prosecute before their courts any persons committing grave breaches thereof. Additionally, pursuant to Art. 12(3) of the Rome Statute, the ICC has the ability to initiate an investigation on an ad hoc basis if a non-State Party accepts the jurisdiction of the Court. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has accepted such jurisdiction through a declaration submitted to the court on 22 January, 2009.
If political will fails in this respect then international standards of justice will fail with it.
In its concluding remarks, CIHRS confirmed that if political will by the international community as a whole fails to hold Israel accountable then international standards of justice will fail with it.
It is worth noting in this regard that since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Gaza in late December, CIHRS called on the HRC to convene an extraordinary session to address the critical implications of the aggression. During the extraordinary session on January 9, 2009, CIHRS declared, together with a large number of Palestinian and Arab organizations – its objection to all pretexts used to legitimize the aggression as well as the brutal crimes committed in Gaza. During the same session, CIHRS recommended that an international mission be sent to investigate and document all international human rights and humanitarian law violations and report them to the ICC to launch an investigation.
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