(AKI) -- An impartial international investigation into allegations of serious violations of the laws of war by Israel and Hamas during the recent fighting in Gaza is essential to establish key facts, hold violators accountable and provide compensation to victims, New-York based campaign group Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.Human Rights Watch renewed its call for establishment of an independent, international commission of inquiry and said the UN Security Council or UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon should urgently take the necessary steps to achieve this.
On January 12, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva voted to dispatch an international fact-finding mission to investigate alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by Israel. But this did not include alleged violations by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, HWR noted.
Leading UN officials have called for an investigation specifically into Israeli attacks on UN schools and headquarters in Gaza. Israeli officials have said that the government will investigate these attacks as well as certain other alleged violations, such as the use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas and using civilians as human shields.
"Israel's poor record of investigating and prosecuting serious violations by its forces, and the absence of any such effort by Hamas or other Palestinian groups, makes it essential that an inquiry be an independent international effort," said HWR.
| On accounta, war isn't war anymore, it's just a law enforcement issue. And anyone who is subject to existential threats must wait until the offender has acted and then sue for damages. Can't sue because they've already pushed you into the sea? Oh, too bad. But we're sure there are victims in Gaza we can tend to in your absence. Might even spread out into that recently vacated land you left behind. |