UN vote on Goldstone report a defining step for accountability, says Amnesty International
Today's UN vote adopting key recommendations of the Goldstone report on the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel earlier this year is vitally important for ensuring that those, on both sides, who committed war crimes and other violations of international law will now be held to account, said Amnesty International.
"Both Israel and Hamas in Gaza have been served due notice, in this defining General Assembly resolution, that they must immediately conduct credible, independent investigations into the alleged grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed during the conflict, said Yvonne Terlingen, Head of Amnesty International's Office at the UN today.
"The clock is now running and we urge both parties to act without further delay. The UN has spoken up today for accountability and for an end to the cycle of impunity that has for so long obstructed the search for peace and justice between Israelis and Palestinians."
The UN General Assembly resolution, based on the findings of the UN Fact Finding Mission led by Justice Goldstone, which concluded that both Israeli and Palestinian forces committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity, was adopted by a large majority: 114 states voted in favour, 18 voted against and 44 abstained. The USA and 7 European Union (EU) states voted against the resolution while Russia abstained.
"We deeply regret that the USA and the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia voted against the resolution and failed to support the need for accountability, justice and human rights that are so vital for victims of abuses in this conflict" said Terlingen.
The resolution calls on the UN Secretary-General to transmit Judge Goldstone's report to the Security Council, which has powers to refer the situation in Gaza to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court if Israel and Hamas prove unable or unwilling to conduct independent investigations that meet international standards. It also calls on the UN Secretary-General to present a progress report to the General Assembly in three months' time.
"We urge the UN Secretary-General to now appoint independent experts in human rights and international humanitarian law to assess whether any investigations that are conducted by Israel and Hamas meet the required international standard", said Terlingen.
The findings of the Goldstone report echo those of an Amnesty International team that investigated alleged violations in Gaza and southern Israel during and in the immediate aftermath of the conflict, in which hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including some 300 children, and three Israeli civilians were killed.
"Almost one year on, those who suffered war crimes and other gross violations of their rights, are still waiting for justice", said Amnesty International. "It is our fervent hope that today's UN General Assembly resolution will act as a catalyst to make justice and reparation a reality for the victims on both sides."
Background
Those voting against the resolution were: Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, the Netherlands, Palau, Panama, Poland, Slovakia, Macedonia, Ukraine and the USA.
Those abstaining were: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Samoa, San Marino, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Tonga, Uganda, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
All other countries voted in favour of the resolution - including EU member states Cyprus, Ireland, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia - except States that were absent. Switzerland, a depositary of the Fourth Geneva Conventions mentioned in the resolution, also voted in favour.
Absent were Bhutan, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Kiribati, Madagascar, Sao Tome Principe, Seychelles, Togo, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Comments
Navs | Posted on 12 November 2009, 02:40PM | Report comment
The Goldstone report was a one sided piece of political propoganda. That is why countries like Australia and Canada voted against it while Iran voted for it. The report has not properly investigated any allegations made within it and totally excluded the suffering of the individuals of southern Israel who have been terrorised by the Iranian controlled Islamist regime of Hamas for 10 years. In fact, Richard Kemp, former British army commander said in a BBC interview, “I don’t think there has ever been a time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and deaths of innocent people than the IDF [Israel Defence Force] is doing today in Gaza”.
Surely it is time for Amnesty to return to it’s roots of being an apolitical human rights organisation rather than becoming yet another vehicle for those who seek to destroy peace.
Steve Lieblich | Posted on 12 November 2009, 09:53AM | Report comment
When will Amnesty International finally get off the Israel-bashing bandwagon, which just fuels the conflict, and instead, do something constructive to bring the parties in the Arab-Israel conflict together to seek peaceful co-existence?
Steve Lieblich | Posted on 12 November 2009, 09:49AM | Report comment
From Australian Government, House of Representatives Hansard, 17/9/09:
The Goldstone Commission …probably will not be discussed much by this parliament, reflecting its lack of credibility and the fact that the Australian government, I am sure, does not take it seriously.
… All of the European Union, Switzerland, Canada, Korea and Japan, refused to be associated with the UN Human Rights Council mandate for this commission because it was so biased.
...you must look at what preceded the Israel army’s action in Gaza. The 8,000 rockets that landed on Israeli southern cities would be the subject as well of any investigation by a genuine humanitarian….
....The resolution to the problems in the Middle East will come when people have considerations for all sides….That is where justice will come from, not from this one-sided report which will only set back prospects of political settlement.
Go to http://jiw.blogspot.com/2009/09/australia-ridicules-goldstone-farce.html for more
Steve Lieblich | Posted on 12 November 2009, 09:37AM | Report comment
From The Guardian, Tuesday 20 October 2009, by Harold Evans:
Judge Goldstone has been suckered into letting war criminals use his name to pillory Israel
…Poor Judge Goldstone now regrets how his good name has been used to single out Israel. The Swiss paper Le Temps reports him complaining that ” … there is not a single phrase condemning Hamas as we have done in the report. I hope the council can modify the text.” …
…Israel is not an “occupying power” in Gaza in either fact or international law. Four years ago it voluntarily pulled out all its soldiers and uprooted all its settlers. Here was a wonderful chance for Gaza to be the building block of a Palestinian state, and for Hamas to do what the Israelis did – take a piece of land and build a model state. They didn’t. Instead of helping the desperate Palestinians, they conducted a religious war….
Go to http://jiw.blogspot.com/2009/10/moral-atrocity.html for more
Steve Lieblich | Posted on 12 November 2009, 09:31AM | Report comment
Tuesday (Nov. 3): The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved, by a vote of 344 in favour and 36 against, Resolution #867 condemning the UN Goldstone report as “irredeemably biased” against Israel
The following excerpt is from the conclusion:
...the House of Representatives—
(1) considers the ‘Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ to be irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy;
(2) supports the Administration’s efforts to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations…
...(5) reaffirms its support for the democratic, Jewish State of Israel, for Israel’s security and right to self-defense, and, specifically, for Israel’s right to defend its citizens from violent militant groups and their state sponsors.
Go to http://jiw.blogspot.com/2009/11/goldstone-unbalanced-one-sided-and.html for more.