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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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October 13th,
2009 - Palestinians, Allies Reopen Gaza War Crimes Debate |
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Palestinians,
Allies Reopen Gaza War Crimes Debate By Frank Jordans Associated Press October 13, 2009 Geneva - The U.N. Human
Rights Council will reopen the debate about alleged war crimes in Gaza later
this week after Palestinians succeeded in gathering enough support to call a
special meeting, officials said Tuesday. The debate will start
Thursday, a day after the U.N. Security Council in New York discusses the
Goldstone report, which accuses Israeli forces and Palestinian militants of
war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during their Dec. 27-Jan. 18
war. Israel has rejected the
report, claiming the investigators led by former South African judge Richard
Goldstone were biased against the Jewish state and misled by Palestinian
propaganda. U.N. officials say 18 of the
council's 47 members signed a motion calling for the debate. The backers are:
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Indonesia,
Jordan, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and Senegal. Ibrahim Khraishi, the
Palestinian Authority's U.N. ambassador in Geneva, said the two-day debate
would examine the report as well as recent incidents of violence in
Jerusalem. It will be the sixth time
that Israel has been the subject of a special session by the Geneva-based
council. Each previous session has resulted in a resolution critical of
Israel. "We'll wait to take a
stance on the debate itself once it begins," Israeli Foreign Ministry
spokesman Yigal Palmor said. "We still think that this report is very
dangerous and is disconnected from reality. This report was based almost exclusively
on Hamas propaganda." The 575-page report was
based on about 180 interviews and 10,000 pages of documents. It accused
Israel of applying disproportionate force, targeting civilians, destroying
civilian infrastructure and using human shields in its offensive to stop
militant rocket fire. The report also criticized
Gaza militants including Hamas for targeting civilians and trying to spread
terror through rocket attacks. Thirteen Israelis and almost
1,400 Palestinians were killed during the conflict. The decision to call for a
special meeting of the council marks a turnaround for the Palestinians. Under
heavy U.S. pressure, Palestinian diplomats two weeks ago had asked for debate
on the report to be delayed until March, resulting in protests at home. Despite angry Israeli
reaction and U.S. criticism, the Goldstone report has been widely praised by
human rights groups such as Amnesty International and supported by countries
in Europe and elsewhere. The U.N. Security Council
should require both Israeli and Palestinian authorities to prove they are
carrying out independent, impartial investigations into the alleged war
crimes, the report recommends. If they fail to do so within six months, the
U.N. should refer the matter to prosecutors at the International Criminal
Court in The Hague, it suggests. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hj4Q2pdqZHVVfQcbXxokISeln93QD9BA9C000 |