UN Rights Council Votes for Probe into ‘Crimes’ Committed in Israel-Gaza Fighting; Pakistan welcomes the adoption of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)-led resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC)
by; ASGHAR ALI MUBARAK
The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed on other day to launch an international investigation into crimes committed during the 11-day conflict between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza. By a vote of 24 states in favor, nine against, with 14 abstentions, the 47-member forum adopted a resolution brought by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations. Mean while Pakistan welcomes the adoption of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)-led resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in response to grave violations of international law and human rights by Israel. The HRC special session and its decision to establish a standing international commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations represent global resolve to end systemic impunity and injustice and begin a process of meaningful accountability. Pakistan stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and shares the international community’s expectation for effective implementation of this resolution to ensure respect for international law as well as for rights and dignity of the people of Palestine.
Addressing the council’s special session, Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights said that Israel’s deadly strikes on Gaza might constitute war crimes and that Hamas had violated international humanitarian law by firing rockets into Israel. The decision also authorizes the committee to cover potential human rights violation in Israel itself, including the violence in mixed cities. The committee will therefore be permitted to investigate the escalations starting from April 13, in order to cover events in Sheikh Jarrah and at the Temple Mount. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said that it would refuse to cooperate with the probe. “Israel rejects with disgust the decision adopted today by the Human Rights Council, a hypocritical body with an in-built anti-Israel majority,” the statement said. Israel says it will not cooperate with the investigation, which is also authorized to cover events in Jerusalem, as twenty-four of the forum’s 47 member states voted in favor of the resolution. Israel also boycotted the UN Fact Finding Mission in 2009, headed by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, following its operation in the Strip in 2008-2009.The IDF acts in accordance with international law to protect the citizens of the State of Israel from Hamas’ indiscriminate attacks,” the statement continued. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the council’s decision “whitewashes a genocidal terrorist organization that deliberately targets Israeli civilians while turning Gaza’s civilians into human shields.” He ended his statement by saying the investigation “makes a mockery of international law and encourages terrorists worldwide.”Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. and the UN, Gilad Erdan, went further by adding that “targeting the one and only Jewish state shows that the UNHRC is a politicized and anti-Semitic organization focused on advancing its own agenda. Meanwhile, the U.S. said it deeply regretted a decision by the U.N. Human Rights Council to launch an international investigation into crimes that may have been committed in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”The action today instead threatens to imperil the progress that has been made,” said the statement issued by the U.S. mission to the UN in Geneva.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, did not sign up to address the council, where it has observer status, appearing to shun the ninth session held on Gaza since 2006.
“Regrettably, the self-professed global champions of human rights continue to shield the occupier from global accountability, and literally provide arms and ammunitions for its widely reported war crimes and crimes of apartheid against the Palestinian people,” Pakistan’s ambassador to the OIC, Khalil Hashmi, said, speaking on behalf of the Islamic group.
Michelle Bachelet said her office had verified the deaths of 270 Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including 68 children, during violence this month. Most were killed in Hamas-controlled Gaza, where Israel fought militants for 11 days. Hamas rockets killed 12 people in Israel.
Bachelet said “indiscriminate” strikes from rockets launched by Hamas constituted “a clear violation of international humanitarian law” but stressed that Israel’s strikes in Gaza, including shelling, missile strikes and attacks from the sea, caused widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and fatalities.
“Despite Israel’s claims that many of these buildings were hosting armed groups or being used for military purposes, we have not seen evidence in this regard,” Bachelet said.
“If found to be indiscriminate and disproportionate, such attacks might constitute war crimes,” she added.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said: “Israel, the occupation and apartheid authority, continues its crimes, its policies and laws to consolidate a colonial and apartheid system.”
The decisions of the committee have no legal standing in and of themselves, but their conclusions can later be used by courts or other international bodies.
