General Assembly Debates Gaza Probe
New York, Nov 4 2009 6:10PM
The General Assembly today began its debate on the report of the United Nations probe which found that both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants were guilty of serious human rights violations during the Gaza conflict earlier this year.
The
report is the result of a three-month investigation, led by
Justice Richard Goldstone, a former prosecutor at the UN war
crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and
mandated by the UN Human Rights Council.
The
four-member team found evidence that both Israeli forces and
Palestinian militants committed serious war crimes and
breaches of humanitarian law, which may amount to crimes
against humanity, during the conflict in December 2008 and
January 2009.
The report calls for a number of
measures, including its referral to the Security Council,
since neither the Government of Israel nor the responsible
Palestinian authorities have so far carried out any credible
investigations into alleged violations.
In addition to
the debate, the Assembly is considering a draft resolution,
tabled by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of
Arab States, by which it would endorse the report, and
request the Secretary-General to transmit it to the Security
Council.
The Assembly would also call for independent
investigations by both the Israelis and the Palestinians
within three months.
“What the Goldstone report
essentially constitutes is another damning record of the
Israeli crimes committed against our people under
occupation,” the Palestinian representative, Riyad
Mansour, told the Assembly, adding that its recommendations
represent a significant contribution to the pursuit of
accountability and justice.
He called on Member States
to support the draft resolution, which was an important step
to end impunity and the absence of justice that obstructed
peace efforts and prolonged the suffering of
civilians.
Ambassador Gabriela Shalev of Israel said
that the fact-finding mission, with a “one-sided
mandate,” was a politicized body set up to reach
pre-determined conclusions. “It is the product of the
Human Rights Council in Geneva, a body whose obsession with
Israel had led it to pass more resolutions against Israel
than on all other UN Member States put together.
“It
makes explosive charges against Israel – yet the evidence
provided to support such accusations is at best
uncorroborated, and at worst false,” she stated.
Opening the meeting, which was slated to hear from
more than 40 speakers, Assembly President Ali Treki said
that despite the political sensitivities associated with the
report, the question before the Assembly was
simple.
“We have to answer whether the respect of
human rights is universal or not? Whether we should be
divided on human rights issues or should we remain united
behind advocating their respect all over the
world?
“Let us be clear on what is at stake here:
the human rights of nearly 2 million civilians,” said Mr.
Treki, adding that “without justice there can be no
progress towards
peace.”
ENDS