Goldstone tells UN Human Rights Council that Israel is still avoiding dealing with findings on Gaza
Marian Houk
September 30, 2009
South Africa's Justice Richard Goldstone, today defended before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva his fact-finding mission's nearly 600-page long report on the 22-day Israeli military offensive in Gaza (27 December to 18 January).
He said he regretted that regret that "the response to date of the Government of Israel avoids dealing with the substance of the report", which was published in an advance form on 15 September. Instead, he noted, the report "has been rejected in vehement terms by the Government of Israel. The call for transparent investigations has been rejected. The Government of Israel wishes to restrict its investigations to secret inquiries by the Military investigating itself. That would clearly not satisfy the legitimate expectations of the many victims of the Israeli military operations".
The webcast of the meeting can be seen here .
In his statement to the Human Rights Council today, Justice Goldstone said that "The Mission decided that in order to understand the effect of the Israeli military operations on the infrastructure and economy of Gaza, and especially its food supplies, it was necessary to have regard to the effects of the blockade that Israel has imposed on the Gaza Strip for some years and has been tightened since Hamas became the controlling authority of Gaza. The Mission found that the attack on the only remaining flour producing factory, the destruction of a large part of the Gaza egg production, the bulldozing of huge tracts of agricultural land, and the bombing of some two hundred industrial facilities, could not on any basis be justified on military grounds. Those attacks had nothing whatever to do with the firing of rockets and mortars at Israel ... The Mission looked closely and sets out in the Report statements made by Israeli political and military leaders in which they stated in clear terms that they would hit at the 'Hamas infrastructure'. If 'infrastructure' were to be understood in that way and become a justifiable military objective, it would completely subvert the whole purpose of IHL [International Humanitarial Law] built up over the last 100 years and more. It would make civilians and civilian buildings justifiable targets. These attacks amounted to reprisals and collective punishment and constitute war crimes".
He said that the report details "a number of specific incidents in which Israeli forces launched direct attacks against civilians with lethal consequences. These were, with only one exception, where the facts establish that there was no military objective or advantage that could justify the attacks". He noted that some of the specific incidents investigated "relate to the use by the Israel Defense Forces of human shields in violation of an earlier ruling by the Israel Supreme Court outlawing such conduct".
He added that "The Mission was concerned at the use made by the Israeli army of certain munitions and especially white phosphorous, flechettes and certain heavy metals such as tungsten. Their use is not presently banned by international law. The Mission has recommended that the General Assembly should promote an urgent discussion on the future legality of the use of these munitions. As appears from the Report the manner in which those munitions were used in Gaza caused unacceptable and unnecessary human suffering as well as environmental damage – not only in Gaza but probably also in southern Israel. The situations arising from the latter should be monitored by the United Nations".
And, he said, "The Mission investigated in some detail the effects on the civilian population in Southern Israel of the sustained rocket and mortar attacks from Palestinian armed groups in Gaza. We detail the suffering of victims and the highly prejudicial effects of these acts on the towns and cities that fall within the range of the rockets and mortars".
Goldstone added that "The Government of Israel has a duty to protect its citizens. That in no way justifies a policy of collective punishment of a people under effective occupation, destroying their means to live a dignified life and the trauma caused by the kind of military intervention the Israeli Government called Operation Cast Lead. This contributes to a situation where young people grow up in a culture of hatred and violence, with little hope for change in the future. Finally, the teaching of hate and dehumanization by each side against the other contributes to the destabilization of the whole region ... People of the region should not be demonized. Rather their common humanity should be emphasized.".
Goldstone was also the former Prosecutor at the (UN) International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, and he has said he thought twice before accepting the Human Rights Council's mandate to lead the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.
He said in his public presentation today that "We accepted this Mission because we believe deeply in the rule of law, humanitarian law, human rights, and the principle that in armed conflict civilians should to the greatest extent possible be protected from harm. We accepted with the conviction that pursuing justice is essential and that no state or armed group should be above the law. Failing to pursue justice for serious violations during any conflict will have a deeply corrosive effect on international justice. We accepted out of a deep concern for the hundreds of civilians who needlessly died and those who suffered injury and dislocation of their lives. We accepted because we believe that the perpetrators of serious violations must be held to account".
He also said that "the Mission came to the conclusion that it is accountability above all that is called for in the aftermath of the regrettable violence that has caused so much misery for so many ... A culture of impunity in the region has existed for too long".
Goldstone told the Human Rights Councild that "It has been my experience in many regions of the world, including my own country, South Africa, that peace and reconciliation depend, to a great extent, upon public acknowledgement of what victims suffer. That applies no less in the Middle East. It is a pre-requisite to the beginning of the healing and meaningful peace process. The truth and accountability are also essential to prevent ascribing collective guilt to a people. Many people in Gaza deplore the firing of thousands of rockets at civilians in Southern Israel and the terror that it has caused to innocent children, women and men. And many in Israel, Jews and Palestinians, deplore the actions by the Israel Defense Force that caused unjustifiable civilian deaths and injuries on a very large scale. They do not approve of the damage to the food and commercial infrastructure of Gaza that will take many years to repair".
Goldstone told the Human Rights Council that "The Mission is highly critical of the pusillanimous efforts by Israel to investigate alleged violations of international law and the complete failure by the Gaza authorities to do so in respect of the armed groups. That notwithstanding the Mission came to the conclusion that both Israel and the Gaza Authorities have the ability to conduct open and transparent investigations and launch appropriate prosecutions if they decide to do so. We therefore recommended that the Security Council should require Israel to report to it within six months, on the investigations and prosecutions it is carrying out with regard to the violations referred to in this Report and any others that may come to its attention. The Mission recommends further that the Security Council should set up a body of independent experts to report to it on the progress of the Israeli investigations and prosecutions. The committee of experts should similarly report on investigations and prosecutions undertaken by the relevant authorities in Gaza with regard to crimes committed by the Palestinian armed groups. In both cases, if within the six month period there are no good faith investigations conforming to international standards, the Security Council should refer the situation or situations to the ICC Prosecutor".
Goldstone noted that "Since the release of the advance version of the report two weeks ago, we have witnessed many attestations of support, but also a barrage of criticism towards our findings as well as public attacks against the Members of the Mission". But he strongly rejected the accusation that his Mission's efforts were "politically motivated". He noted that "We do not claim to be immune from error. After the release of the report we have received a number of comments from people who are sincerely interested in the truth. We have considered them and where relevant redressed inaccuracies in the final version of the report".
U.S, officials have indicated that they would like to keep the discussion of the Goldstone report's findings within the Human Rights Council, and not refer it to the UN Security Council or to the UN General Assembly, as the Goldstone report itself recommended. But the U.S,, in its statement in Geneva today, indicated that it is urging Israel to conduct a credible investigation into the findings of the Goldstone report -- in order to boost the peace process. Stephanie Nebahay of Reuters reported from the UN in Geneva that Michael Posner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, told the Human Rights Council that "We encourage Israel to utilize appropriate domestic (judicial) review and meaningful accountability mechanisms to investigate and follow-up on credible allegations ... If undertaken properly and fairly, these reviews can serve as important confidence-building measures that will support the larger essential objective which is a shared quest for justice and lasting peace". This Reuters report can be read in full here . However, AP is reporting that Posner told the Human Rights Council that "We disagree sharply with many of the report's assessments and its recommendations and believe it to be deeply flawed", and that it does not agree with the suggestion to refer the report to the UN Security Council in NY: "If this standard were applied in every conflict situation around the world where there are alleged violations, then the role of the Human Rights Council would be dramatically different". The U.S. agrees with Israel's argument that the Human Rights Council spends too much time on Israeli violation of Palestinian human rights, and not enough time on other situations of concern around the world. The AP report can be read in full here. Posnter also said that
Hamas leaders, too, have a responsibility to investigate war crimes committed by Palestinians in Gaza.
In his statement today, Goldstone himself also said the same thing: "The lack of accountability for war crimes and possible crimes against humanity has reached a crisis point; the ongoing lack of justice is undermining any hope for a successful peace process and reinforcing an environment that fosters violence. Time and again, experience has taught us that overlooking justice only leads to increased conflict and violence ... [T]he Mission hopes that the substance of this report will be used to strengthen initiatives for peace in the region. The mission is convinced that the international community must confront the realities highlighted in this report and that by doing so find a meaningful basis for the pursuit of peace and security for all the people of the region".
Goldstone said that "the Mission was established in April of this year with the mandate to investigate 'all violations of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza from 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009, whether before during or after' ... The mandate of the mission was to look at all parties: Israel; the Palestinian Authority; Hamas, which governs Gaza; and armed Palestinian groups. Soon after its establishment the Mission was faced with one of its major challenges: the decision of the Government of Israel not to cooperate with it and its implicit refusal to give us access to Gaza, the West Bank and to southern Israel. We decided not to allow this lack of cooperation to prevent the Mission from discharging its mandate".
Goldstone told the Human Rights Council today that "For practical reasons, the Mission decided for the most part to restrict its fact finding to the period from 16 June 2008 to 31 July 2009. The 16th June 2008 was the date on which a cease fire between Israel and Hamas came into effect".
Barred from access to Gaza through Israel, the Goldstone mission instead entered through Rafah, twice -- at the beginning and again at the end of June. It also held public hearings in Rafah, and then also in Geneva -- and heard the testimony of 38 witnesses, victims, and experts. The Mission also interviewed witnesses in Amman, Jordan in early July. Justice Goldstone told the Human Rights Council that "The Mission conducted 188 individual interviews, reviewed over 10 000 pages of documentation and viewed some 1200 photographs, including satellite imagery and video-tapes".
In the report, the Fact-Finding Mission noted that "a Palestinian participant [in the Geneva public hearings], Mr. Muhammad Srour, had been detained by Israeli security forces when returning to the West Bank and became concerned that his detention may have been a consequence of his appearance before the Mission. The Mission is in contact with him and continues to monitor developments".
The ADVANCE (and not yet the Final) copy of the Goldstone team's "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict -- Conclusions and recommendations" can be found here .
He said he regretted that regret that "the response to date of the Government of Israel avoids dealing with the substance of the report", which was published in an advance form on 15 September. Instead, he noted, the report "has been rejected in vehement terms by the Government of Israel. The call for transparent investigations has been rejected. The Government of Israel wishes to restrict its investigations to secret inquiries by the Military investigating itself. That would clearly not satisfy the legitimate expectations of the many victims of the Israeli military operations".
The webcast of the meeting can be seen here .
In his statement to the Human Rights Council today, Justice Goldstone said that "The Mission decided that in order to understand the effect of the Israeli military operations on the infrastructure and economy of Gaza, and especially its food supplies, it was necessary to have regard to the effects of the blockade that Israel has imposed on the Gaza Strip for some years and has been tightened since Hamas became the controlling authority of Gaza. The Mission found that the attack on the only remaining flour producing factory, the destruction of a large part of the Gaza egg production, the bulldozing of huge tracts of agricultural land, and the bombing of some two hundred industrial facilities, could not on any basis be justified on military grounds. Those attacks had nothing whatever to do with the firing of rockets and mortars at Israel ... The Mission looked closely and sets out in the Report statements made by Israeli political and military leaders in which they stated in clear terms that they would hit at the 'Hamas infrastructure'. If 'infrastructure' were to be understood in that way and become a justifiable military objective, it would completely subvert the whole purpose of IHL [International Humanitarial Law] built up over the last 100 years and more. It would make civilians and civilian buildings justifiable targets. These attacks amounted to reprisals and collective punishment and constitute war crimes".
He said that the report details "a number of specific incidents in which Israeli forces launched direct attacks against civilians with lethal consequences. These were, with only one exception, where the facts establish that there was no military objective or advantage that could justify the attacks". He noted that some of the specific incidents investigated "relate to the use by the Israel Defense Forces of human shields in violation of an earlier ruling by the Israel Supreme Court outlawing such conduct".
He added that "The Mission was concerned at the use made by the Israeli army of certain munitions and especially white phosphorous, flechettes and certain heavy metals such as tungsten. Their use is not presently banned by international law. The Mission has recommended that the General Assembly should promote an urgent discussion on the future legality of the use of these munitions. As appears from the Report the manner in which those munitions were used in Gaza caused unacceptable and unnecessary human suffering as well as environmental damage – not only in Gaza but probably also in southern Israel. The situations arising from the latter should be monitored by the United Nations".
And, he said, "The Mission investigated in some detail the effects on the civilian population in Southern Israel of the sustained rocket and mortar attacks from Palestinian armed groups in Gaza. We detail the suffering of victims and the highly prejudicial effects of these acts on the towns and cities that fall within the range of the rockets and mortars".
Goldstone added that "The Government of Israel has a duty to protect its citizens. That in no way justifies a policy of collective punishment of a people under effective occupation, destroying their means to live a dignified life and the trauma caused by the kind of military intervention the Israeli Government called Operation Cast Lead. This contributes to a situation where young people grow up in a culture of hatred and violence, with little hope for change in the future. Finally, the teaching of hate and dehumanization by each side against the other contributes to the destabilization of the whole region ... People of the region should not be demonized. Rather their common humanity should be emphasized.".
Goldstone was also the former Prosecutor at the (UN) International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, and he has said he thought twice before accepting the Human Rights Council's mandate to lead the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.
He said in his public presentation today that "We accepted this Mission because we believe deeply in the rule of law, humanitarian law, human rights, and the principle that in armed conflict civilians should to the greatest extent possible be protected from harm. We accepted with the conviction that pursuing justice is essential and that no state or armed group should be above the law. Failing to pursue justice for serious violations during any conflict will have a deeply corrosive effect on international justice. We accepted out of a deep concern for the hundreds of civilians who needlessly died and those who suffered injury and dislocation of their lives. We accepted because we believe that the perpetrators of serious violations must be held to account".
He also said that "the Mission came to the conclusion that it is accountability above all that is called for in the aftermath of the regrettable violence that has caused so much misery for so many ... A culture of impunity in the region has existed for too long".
Goldstone told the Human Rights Councild that "It has been my experience in many regions of the world, including my own country, South Africa, that peace and reconciliation depend, to a great extent, upon public acknowledgement of what victims suffer. That applies no less in the Middle East. It is a pre-requisite to the beginning of the healing and meaningful peace process. The truth and accountability are also essential to prevent ascribing collective guilt to a people. Many people in Gaza deplore the firing of thousands of rockets at civilians in Southern Israel and the terror that it has caused to innocent children, women and men. And many in Israel, Jews and Palestinians, deplore the actions by the Israel Defense Force that caused unjustifiable civilian deaths and injuries on a very large scale. They do not approve of the damage to the food and commercial infrastructure of Gaza that will take many years to repair".
Goldstone told the Human Rights Council that "The Mission is highly critical of the pusillanimous efforts by Israel to investigate alleged violations of international law and the complete failure by the Gaza authorities to do so in respect of the armed groups. That notwithstanding the Mission came to the conclusion that both Israel and the Gaza Authorities have the ability to conduct open and transparent investigations and launch appropriate prosecutions if they decide to do so. We therefore recommended that the Security Council should require Israel to report to it within six months, on the investigations and prosecutions it is carrying out with regard to the violations referred to in this Report and any others that may come to its attention. The Mission recommends further that the Security Council should set up a body of independent experts to report to it on the progress of the Israeli investigations and prosecutions. The committee of experts should similarly report on investigations and prosecutions undertaken by the relevant authorities in Gaza with regard to crimes committed by the Palestinian armed groups. In both cases, if within the six month period there are no good faith investigations conforming to international standards, the Security Council should refer the situation or situations to the ICC Prosecutor".
Goldstone noted that "Since the release of the advance version of the report two weeks ago, we have witnessed many attestations of support, but also a barrage of criticism towards our findings as well as public attacks against the Members of the Mission". But he strongly rejected the accusation that his Mission's efforts were "politically motivated". He noted that "We do not claim to be immune from error. After the release of the report we have received a number of comments from people who are sincerely interested in the truth. We have considered them and where relevant redressed inaccuracies in the final version of the report".
U.S, officials have indicated that they would like to keep the discussion of the Goldstone report's findings within the Human Rights Council, and not refer it to the UN Security Council or to the UN General Assembly, as the Goldstone report itself recommended. But the U.S,, in its statement in Geneva today, indicated that it is urging Israel to conduct a credible investigation into the findings of the Goldstone report -- in order to boost the peace process. Stephanie Nebahay of Reuters reported from the UN in Geneva that Michael Posner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, told the Human Rights Council that "We encourage Israel to utilize appropriate domestic (judicial) review and meaningful accountability mechanisms to investigate and follow-up on credible allegations ... If undertaken properly and fairly, these reviews can serve as important confidence-building measures that will support the larger essential objective which is a shared quest for justice and lasting peace". This Reuters report can be read in full here . However, AP is reporting that Posner told the Human Rights Council that "We disagree sharply with many of the report's assessments and its recommendations and believe it to be deeply flawed", and that it does not agree with the suggestion to refer the report to the UN Security Council in NY: "If this standard were applied in every conflict situation around the world where there are alleged violations, then the role of the Human Rights Council would be dramatically different". The U.S. agrees with Israel's argument that the Human Rights Council spends too much time on Israeli violation of Palestinian human rights, and not enough time on other situations of concern around the world. The AP report can be read in full here. Posnter also said that
Hamas leaders, too, have a responsibility to investigate war crimes committed by Palestinians in Gaza.
In his statement today, Goldstone himself also said the same thing: "The lack of accountability for war crimes and possible crimes against humanity has reached a crisis point; the ongoing lack of justice is undermining any hope for a successful peace process and reinforcing an environment that fosters violence. Time and again, experience has taught us that overlooking justice only leads to increased conflict and violence ... [T]he Mission hopes that the substance of this report will be used to strengthen initiatives for peace in the region. The mission is convinced that the international community must confront the realities highlighted in this report and that by doing so find a meaningful basis for the pursuit of peace and security for all the people of the region".
Goldstone said that "the Mission was established in April of this year with the mandate to investigate 'all violations of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza from 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009, whether before during or after' ... The mandate of the mission was to look at all parties: Israel; the Palestinian Authority; Hamas, which governs Gaza; and armed Palestinian groups. Soon after its establishment the Mission was faced with one of its major challenges: the decision of the Government of Israel not to cooperate with it and its implicit refusal to give us access to Gaza, the West Bank and to southern Israel. We decided not to allow this lack of cooperation to prevent the Mission from discharging its mandate".
Goldstone told the Human Rights Council today that "For practical reasons, the Mission decided for the most part to restrict its fact finding to the period from 16 June 2008 to 31 July 2009. The 16th June 2008 was the date on which a cease fire between Israel and Hamas came into effect".
Barred from access to Gaza through Israel, the Goldstone mission instead entered through Rafah, twice -- at the beginning and again at the end of June. It also held public hearings in Rafah, and then also in Geneva -- and heard the testimony of 38 witnesses, victims, and experts. The Mission also interviewed witnesses in Amman, Jordan in early July. Justice Goldstone told the Human Rights Council that "The Mission conducted 188 individual interviews, reviewed over 10 000 pages of documentation and viewed some 1200 photographs, including satellite imagery and video-tapes".
In the report, the Fact-Finding Mission noted that "a Palestinian participant [in the Geneva public hearings], Mr. Muhammad Srour, had been detained by Israeli security forces when returning to the West Bank and became concerned that his detention may have been a consequence of his appearance before the Mission. The Mission is in contact with him and continues to monitor developments".
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The ADVANCE (and not yet the Final) copy of the Goldstone team's "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict -- Conclusions and recommendations" can be found here .
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