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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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June 29th,
2009 - U.N. Fact-Finding Commission Faces Skepticism in Gaza |
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U.N. Fact-Finding
Commission Faces Skepticism in Gaza The panel opens a hearing on allegations of war crimes during Israel’s
winter assault on the Gaza Strip. Israel refuses to participate, and many
Palestinians have doubts. By Edmund Sanders Los Angeles Times June 29, 2009 Reporting from The Gaza
Strip - A novel approach toward injecting international justice into the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict got underway Sunday in this embattled enclave,
but it left neither side particularly satisfied. Borrowing from the South
African reconciliation experience, a United Nations fact-finding commission
opened what it said was the first-of-its-kind public hearing to gather
witness testimony about alleged war crimes during Israel's 22-day assault on
the Gaza Strip in winter. But as it has with past
inquiries, the Israeli government has refused to cooperate with the United
Nations Human Rights Council fact-finding team, calling it hopelessly biased.
A follow-up hearing, to gather testimony from Israeli victims of rocket
attacks by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, will be
held in Europe because of Israeli officials' refusal to allow the commission
into their country. Around Gaza, skepticism and
distrust appear nearly equally high. Local television showed the hearing live
for only a few minutes; an auditorium set aside for public viewing of the
proceedings was mostly empty except for a few journalists. Having endured the
conflict firsthand, many Palestinians said they had little desire to relive
it. Many also expressed doubts that the commission's final report would make
a difference in their lives or result in any punishment. "Every time there is a
war, they send a commission," said Ahmed Yazji, 29, a Gaza City money
changer sipping coffee Sunday at an outdoor cafe several blocks from the
hearing hall. "We've seen so many inquiries come and go. No one cares
anymore because nothing happens." Gazans who did testify
provided emotional accounts of Israel's assault. Three surviving members of
one family recalled losing seven relatives as they sought shelter in a mosque
that was struck Jan. 3 by an Israeli missile. "I saw [shrapnel]
fragments falling like rain," said Sheik Moteeh Silawi. "Everyone
was screaming. People went to the mosque for safety and we saw
bloodshed." His father broke down and
wailed in the heavily guarded hearing room as he recounted how he learned of
the deaths of so many children and grandchildren. "Where is
justice?" Musa Silawi, 91, shouted. "Where is the law? Where is the
world?" Israeli officials have
insisted that they did not deliberately target civilians and blamed Hamas
militants for hiding among Gaza's civilian population while fighting Israeli
troops. The cynicism expressed by
both sides makes clear the challenges that the commission's chairman, South
African jurist Richard Goldstone, will face in gaining acceptance for his
report, which is due in fall. The commission faced controversy from its
inception because the original mandate focused exclusively on Israel's
alleged abuses. Upon accepting the job, Goldstone insisted on expanding the
scope to include allegations against Hamas. Israeli officials, however,
have dismissed the public hearings, which they described as unprecedented in
the region and politically motivated. "The intent is to smear
Israel," said one senior official speaking on condition on anonymity.
"But Goldstone is just a passing cloud." A commission spokeswoman
defended the U.N. mission's impartiality and said Goldstone pushed for the
public hearings in Gaza, despite security concerns, to give victims an
opportunity to voice their complaints and to show Palestinians the judicial
process in action. "Victims can sometimes
become lost in the statistics and numbers, and that can have a dehumanizing
effect," U.N. spokeswoman Doune Porter said. Goldstone "wanted to
give victims a voice and have them tell their stories." Gaza human rights activist
Khalil abu Shammala agreed that the hearings would put a face on the war's
devastation. He added that the process of gathering information was probably
more important than the final report, which he predicted would be ignored by
the U.N. Security Council and the international community. "The final decision is
not as important to us because in our experience the U.N. Security Council
always politicizes it and sacrifices the rights of victims for the benefit of
Israel," he said. Legal experts agreed that
the hearings, however dramatic and cathartic, were unlikely to result in
formal prosecution, even if violations of international law are found.
Goldstone himself acknowledged recently that locating a legal forum would be
a challenge. The U.N. secretary-general
has not expressed an interest in delving more deeply into the allegations.
The International Criminal Court is grappling with jurisdiction issues
because Israel is not a signatory to the court. Gaza lacks an adequate court
system to hear complaints. That might leave only some foreign courts, such as
those in Spain, that sometimes open their doors to such cases. "Short term, there will
probably be no prosecution because there is no mechanism, but the findings
might play into private lawsuits being filed by Palestinian" groups,
said Bill Van Esveld, a Human Rights Watch researcher in Jerusalem. He said an international
inquiry is needed because Israel failed to adequately probe charges,
including some by its troops, that the army used excessive force and killed
civilians indiscriminately. An internal investigation by
the Israeli armed forces found their soldiers maintained a "high
professional and moral level," though it acknowledged that a small
number of mishaps led to civilian deaths. Palestinian groups say more
than 1,400 people were killed, including 926 civilians. Israel puts the
Palestinian death toll at 1,116, including 295 civilians. Thirteen Israelis
were killed, including 10 soldiers, four by friendly fire. Some legal experts contend
that specific episodes involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, because of
its convoluted history and high profile, should not be resolved through
international justice mechanisms. "It makes sense to
gather information, but there is no real reason to proceed down the path of a
tribunal," said Barbara Mulvaney, a former prosecutor in the Rwanda
genocide tribunal. "It would just muddy up an already overly complex
situation. It requires a much broader regional and political solution." External link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gaza-un-hearing29-2009jun29,0,5558064.story |