Amnesty International: Latest Israeli response to Gaza investigations totally inadequate

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Press Release

February, 02 2010

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"Israel’s latest response to the UN on its investigations into alleged violations of international law by its forces in Gaza a year ago is totally inadequate, Amnesty International said today.

Crucial questions about the conduct of attacks in which hundreds of civilians were killed and thousands were made homeless are not credibly addressed in Israel’s update to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“The investigations undertaken by Israel fail to meet international standards of independence, impartiality, transparency, promptness and effectiveness,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“The Israeli military is investigating itself and in no way can this be adequate in obtaining the truth and ensuring justice for the victims.”

The 46-page update published on 29 January says that Israel has opened investigations into 150 incidents involving alleged violations of the laws of war by its forces during Operation “Cast Lead”, its 22-day military offensive in Gaza which ended on 18 January 2009.

Around 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the conflict that took place in Gaza and southern Israel.

The limited details released indicate that the Israeli authorities are failing to credibly address grave concerns about the army’s use of white phosphorus in densely-populated areas.

Attacks on UN facilities and other civilian buildings and infrastructure, as well as direct attacks on Palestinian civilians, including ambulance crews have also not been adequately investigated by Israel.

Such incidents were reported by the UN, Amnesty International and other human rights and media organizations at the time of the conflict.

"There were numerous credible allegations during Operation ‘Cast Lead’ that violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli forces caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians, led others to be used as “human shields” and destroyed or damaged thousands of homes and other civilian infrastructure,” said Malcolm Smart.

"Yet more than one year on, according to the update, only one soldier has been convicted of an offence as a result of the Israeli investigations, and that was the theft of a credit card."

More at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGPRE201002021524〈=e

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1. Few Israeli soldiers charged in abuse cases: rights group

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"Only six percent of all investigations into alleged abuse of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers led to prosecutions over the past decade, an Israeli human rights group said on Thursday.

Military police carried out 1,805 investigations between 2000 and 2009, and in just 105 instances were charges filed, according to the group Yesh Din ("There is a law" in Hebrew).

Those 105 in turn saw a total of 161 soldiers charged, most of whom were given light sentences under deals between their lawyers and the prosecution, Yesh Din said.

In all, only four soldiers have been convicted for the killing of four civilians -- three Palestinians and Briton Tom Hurndall, a pacifist mortally wounded in the Gaza Strip in 2003.

The 1,805 investigations include 36 that were carried out following the devastating Israeli assault on Gaza at the end of 2008 in which more than 1,400 Palestinians died.

Of those, only one resulted in a soldier being jailed for seven and half months for the theft of a credit card.

Lior Yavne, head of research for the organisation, said the numbers "show the inability of the army's judicial branch to ensure the protection of Palestinian victims of soldiers."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100204/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictmilitaryrights


New link to OP (AI link not working):http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=38135