Udenrigsudvalget 2009-10
URU Alm.del Bilag 262
Offentligt
A
Joint
Appeal
from
Civil
Society:
The
International
Community
Must
Act
Now
to
End
Impunity
for
War
Crimes
in
Israel
and
Palestine
12
September,
2010
Your
Excellency,
As
civil
society
organisations,
unified
under
a
common
purpose
of
ensuring
respect
for
international
humanitarian
law
and
redress
for
victims
of
war
crimes
in
Israel
and
Palestine,
we
would
like
to
draw
your
attention
to
the
forthcoming
dealing
with
domestic
investigations
of
war
crimes
in
accordance
with
several
UN
resolutions
which
will
be
occurring
at
the
United
Nations
Human
Rights
Council
(13
September
–
1
October,
2010).
Israeli,
Palestinian
and
international
civil
society
organisations
have
been
closely
monitoring
the
domestic
investigations
by
Israel
and
Palestinian
actors
initiated
with
respect
to
allegations
of
war
crimes
committed
during
Israel’s
offensive
against
the
Gaza
strip
(Operation
Cast
Lead)
that
occurred
12/2008-·‐01/2009,
as
required
by
several
UN
Human
Rights
Council
(HRC)
and
1General
Assembly
(GA)
resolutions.
The
extensive
factual
evidence
gathered
by
these
organizations
clearly
demonstrates
that
these
domestic
investigations
and
prosecutions
have
not
conformed
to
international
standards
of
justice,
and
lack
basic
requirements
of
independence,
transparency,
impartiality
and/or
effectiveness.
In
accordance
with
the
recommendations
of
the
report
of
the
UN
Fact
Finding
Mission
on
the
Gaza
Conflict,
the
date
by
which
parties
to
the
conflict
should
have
concluded
domestic
investigations
in
conformity
with
international
standards
expired
six
months
ago
in
March
2010.
The
General
Assembly
has
given
the
parties
until
July
2010
to
conclude
these
investigations.
Despite
the
passing
of
these
deadlines,
alleged
violations
reported
by
the
Fact-·‐Finding
Mission
have
still
not
been
adequately
investigated
or
addressed
by
any
party
to
the
conflict.
We,
the
undersigned
NGOs,
believe
that
20
months
after
Operation
Cast
Lead,
sufficient
time
has
been
granted
to
the
parties
to
the
conflict
to
demonstrate
a
willingness
and/or
ability
to
carry
out
investigations
into
alleged
war
crimes
according
to
international
standards.
In
response
to
the
unequivocal
failure
of
all
parties
to
the
conflict
to
conduct
effective
investigations
and
prosecutions,
thus
violating
UN
Human
Rights
Council
and
GA
Resolutions,
as
well
as
customary
international
humanitarian
law
obligations,
it
is
now
imperative
that
urgent
recourse
be
made
to
mechanisms
of
international
justice.
It
is
in
this
context
that
we
write
to
urge
your
country
to
recognize
that
the
time
has
come
to
fight
persistent
and
long
standing
impunity
for
war
crimes
committed
in
Israel
and
the
Occupied
Palestinian
Territory
(OPT)
through
international
mechanisms
of
justice
and
accountability,
including
criminal
proceedings.
We
call
on
you
to
seize
this
historic
opportunity
to
take
concrete
action
to
ensure
the
implementation
of
recommendations
made
by
the
Fact
Finding
Missions
on
Gaza
and
the
UN
resolutions
cited
above.
We
firmly
believe
failure
to
do
so
will
only
entrench
the
conflict
by
convincing
the
perpetrators
of
war
crimes
in
Israel
and
the
OPT
that
impunity
for
such
acts
will
continue
indefinitely.
We
therefore
call
on
all
member
states
of
the
United
Nations,
in
particular
member
states
of
the
HRC
in
a
resolution
at
the
th15
Session
of
the
HRC
to:
1. Acknowledge
and
condemn
the
failure
of
all
responsible
parties
to
comply
with
their
obligation
to
carry
out
genuine
investigations
in
accordance
with
Resolutions
of
the
HRC
and
GA,
and
the
consequent
need
for
the
international
community,
including
all
relevant
UN
bodies,
to
take
action
to
uphold
victims’
rights,
and
ultimately
to
promote
respect
for
the
rule
of
international
law
through
all
tools
available
to
the
international
community;
2. Recommend
that
the
UN
General
Assembly
urge
the
UN
Security
Council,
acting
under
Chapter
VII
of
the
UN
Charter,
to
refer
the
situation
in
Israel
and
the
Occupied
Palestinian
Territory
to
the
International
Criminal
Court
(ICC)
and
request
that
individual
ICC
States
Parties
refer
the
situation
in
Israel
and
Palestine
to
the
Prosecutor,
in
accordance
with
Article
14
of
the
ICC
Statute,
and
in
the
interests
of
international
peace
and
security;
3. Request
that
High
Contracting
Parties
to
the
Geneva
Conventions
of
1949
comply
with
their
legal
obligation
to
investigate
and
prosecute
all
suspected
grave
breaches
of
the
Conventions,
including
through
the
exercise
of
universal
jurisdiction.
Sincerely yours,
1
A/HRC/Res/S-12/1, A/HRC/RES/13/9, A/Res/64/10 and A/Res/64/254
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
Acsur
Las
Segovias
–
Spain
Al
Haq
–
Palestine
Asian
Forum
for
Human
Rights
and
Development
(FORUM-·‐ASIA)
Asian
Legal
Resource
Centre
(ALRC)
BADIL
Resource
Center
for
Palestinian
Residency
and
Refuge
–
Palestine
Boye-·‐Elbal
y
Asociados
–
Spain
Broederlijk
Delen
–
Belgium
Cairo
Institute
for
Human
Rights
Studies
(CIHRS)
Centro
de
Estudios
Legales
y
Sociales
(CELS)
–
Argentina
Coalition
of
Women
for
Peace
–
Israel
Danish
United
Nations
Association
Diakonia
Sweden
Egyptian
Initiative
for
Personal
Rights
(EIPR)
Euro-·‐Mediterranean
Human
Rights
Network
(EMHRN)
European
Jews
for
a
Just
Peace
(EJJP)
–
Netherlands
Italian
Peace
Association
International
Federation
for
Human
Rights
(FIDH)
L'action
des
chrétiens
pour
l'abolition
de
la
torture
(ACAT)
–
France
MS
Action
Aid
Denmark
Palestinian
Centre
for
Human
Rights
(PCHR)
–
Palestine
Public
Committee
Against
Torture
in
Israel
(PCATI)
Quaker
Council
for
European
Affairs
–
Belgium
Rehabilitation
and
Research
Centre
for
Torture
Victims
(RCT)
–
Denmark
