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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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April 16th,
2009 - Israel Snubs UN Gaza War Inquiry |
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Israel Snubs UN Gaza War Inquiry From Al Jazeera April 16, 2009 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 prosector, 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
buillt-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." ‘Impartiality’ 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. External link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/04/2009416141045482370.html |