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U.N.: ISRAELI PRACTICES COULD BE SUBJECT TO PROSECUTION FOR WAR CRIMES.
http://truth-media.info/u-n-israeli-practices-could-be-subject-to-prosecution-for-war-crimes/
January 31, 2013 | Filed under: israel/palestine,News,Violence,World |
Posted by: admin
GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. human rights investigators called on Israel
on Thursday to halt settlement expansion and withdraw all half a
million Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank, saying that its
practices could be subject to prosecution as possible war crimes.
A three-member U.N. panel said private companies should stop working
in the settlements if their work adversely affected the human rights
of Palestinians, and urged member states to ensure companies respected
human rights.
"Israel must cease settlement activities and provide adequate, prompt
and effective remedy to the victims of violations of human rights,"
Christine Chanet, a French judge who led the U.N. inquiry, told a
news conference.
The settlements contravened the Fourth Geneva Convention forbidding
the transfer of civilian populations into occupied territory and
could amount to war crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the
International Criminal Court (ICC), the United Nations report said.
"To transfer its own population into an occupied territory is
prohibited because it is an obstacle to the exercise of the right to
self-determination," Chanet said.
In December, the Palestinians accused Israel in a letter to the United
Nations of planning to commit what it said were further war crimes by
expanding Jewish settlements after the Palestinians won de facto U.N.
recognition of statehood, and said Israel must be held accountable.
Israel has not cooperated with the probe set up by the Human Rights
Council last March to examine the impact of settlements in the
territory, including East Jerusalem. Israel says the forum has an
inherent bias against it and defends its settlement policy by citing
historical and Biblical links to the West Bank.
Israel's foreign ministry swiftly rejected the report as
"counterproductive and unfortunate". The Palestine Liberation
Organisation welcomed its "principled and candid" findings.
"The only way to resolve all pending issues between Israel and the
Palestinians, including the settlements issue, is through direct
negotiations without pre-conditions. Counterproductive measures -
such as the report before us, will only hamper efforts to find a
sustainable solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict," Israel's
Yigal Palmor said.
"The Human Rights Council has sadly distinguished itself by its
systematically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel. This
latest report is yet another unfortunate reminder of that."
But Hanan Ashrawi, a top PLO official told Reuters: "This is
incredible. We are extremely heartened by this principled and candid
assessment of Israeli violations...This report clearly states the
Israel is not just violating the 4th Geneva Convention, but places
Israel in liability to the Rome Statute under the jurisdiction of
the ICC."
The independent U.N. investigators interviewed more than 50 people
who came to Jordan in November to testify about confiscated land,
damage to their livelihoods including olive trees, and violence by
Jewish settlers, according to the report.
"The mission believes that the motivation behind this violence and the
intimidation against the Palestinians as well as their properties is
to drive the local populations away from their lands and allow the
settlements to expand," it said.
"CREEPING ANNEXATION"
About 250 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
have been established since 1967 and they hold an estimated 520,000
settlers, according to the U.N. report. The settlements impede
Palestinian access to water and farm lands.
The settlements were "leading to a creeping annexation that prevents
the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state and
undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,"
it said.
Chanet said: "To maintain such a system of segregation you need strict
police and army control. It means a lot of checkpoints, violation of
freedom of movement, no access to natural resources, demolition of
houses and sometimes even destroying the trees."
After the General Assembly upgraded the Palestinians status at the
world body, Israel said it would build 3,000 more settler homes in
the West Bank and East Jerusalem - areas Palestinians wanted for a
future state, along with the Gaza Strip.
The U.N. human rights inquiry said that the International Criminal
Court had jurisdiction over the deportation or transfer by the
occupying power of its own population into the territory.
Chanet, asked whether the violations constituted war crimes that could
be tried at the Hague-based court, said: "These offences are falling
into the provision of article 8 of the ICC statutes. Article 8 of
the ICC statute is in the chapter of war crimes, that is the answer."
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; additional reporting by
Ori Lewis and Noah Browning in Jerusalem; Editing by Jon Boyle)
http://truth-media.info/u-n-israeli-practices-could-be-subject-to-prosecution-for-war-crimes/
January 31, 2013 | Filed under: israel/palestine,News,Violence,World |
Posted by: admin
GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. human rights investigators called on Israel
on Thursday to halt settlement expansion and withdraw all half a
million Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank, saying that its
practices could be subject to prosecution as possible war crimes.
A three-member U.N. panel said private companies should stop working
in the settlements if their work adversely affected the human rights
of Palestinians, and urged member states to ensure companies respected
human rights.
"Israel must cease settlement activities and provide adequate, prompt
and effective remedy to the victims of violations of human rights,"
Christine Chanet, a French judge who led the U.N. inquiry, told a
news conference.
The settlements contravened the Fourth Geneva Convention forbidding
the transfer of civilian populations into occupied territory and
could amount to war crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the
International Criminal Court (ICC), the United Nations report said.
"To transfer its own population into an occupied territory is
prohibited because it is an obstacle to the exercise of the right to
self-determination," Chanet said.
In December, the Palestinians accused Israel in a letter to the United
Nations of planning to commit what it said were further war crimes by
expanding Jewish settlements after the Palestinians won de facto U.N.
recognition of statehood, and said Israel must be held accountable.
Israel has not cooperated with the probe set up by the Human Rights
Council last March to examine the impact of settlements in the
territory, including East Jerusalem. Israel says the forum has an
inherent bias against it and defends its settlement policy by citing
historical and Biblical links to the West Bank.
Israel's foreign ministry swiftly rejected the report as
"counterproductive and unfortunate". The Palestine Liberation
Organisation welcomed its "principled and candid" findings.
"The only way to resolve all pending issues between Israel and the
Palestinians, including the settlements issue, is through direct
negotiations without pre-conditions. Counterproductive measures -
such as the report before us, will only hamper efforts to find a
sustainable solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict," Israel's
Yigal Palmor said.
"The Human Rights Council has sadly distinguished itself by its
systematically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel. This
latest report is yet another unfortunate reminder of that."
But Hanan Ashrawi, a top PLO official told Reuters: "This is
incredible. We are extremely heartened by this principled and candid
assessment of Israeli violations...This report clearly states the
Israel is not just violating the 4th Geneva Convention, but places
Israel in liability to the Rome Statute under the jurisdiction of
the ICC."
The independent U.N. investigators interviewed more than 50 people
who came to Jordan in November to testify about confiscated land,
damage to their livelihoods including olive trees, and violence by
Jewish settlers, according to the report.
"The mission believes that the motivation behind this violence and the
intimidation against the Palestinians as well as their properties is
to drive the local populations away from their lands and allow the
settlements to expand," it said.
"CREEPING ANNEXATION"
About 250 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
have been established since 1967 and they hold an estimated 520,000
settlers, according to the U.N. report. The settlements impede
Palestinian access to water and farm lands.
The settlements were "leading to a creeping annexation that prevents
the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state and
undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,"
it said.
Chanet said: "To maintain such a system of segregation you need strict
police and army control. It means a lot of checkpoints, violation of
freedom of movement, no access to natural resources, demolition of
houses and sometimes even destroying the trees."
After the General Assembly upgraded the Palestinians status at the
world body, Israel said it would build 3,000 more settler homes in
the West Bank and East Jerusalem - areas Palestinians wanted for a
future state, along with the Gaza Strip.
The U.N. human rights inquiry said that the International Criminal
Court had jurisdiction over the deportation or transfer by the
occupying power of its own population into the territory.
Chanet, asked whether the violations constituted war crimes that could
be tried at the Hague-based court, said: "These offences are falling
into the provision of article 8 of the ICC statutes. Article 8 of
the ICC statute is in the chapter of war crimes, that is the answer."
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; additional reporting by
Ori Lewis and Noah Browning in Jerusalem; Editing by Jon Boyle)