[R-G] Amnesty: Winograd Commission disregards Israeli war crimes

[Richard Menec]

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2008/01/amnesty_winogra.php

Amnesty: Winograd Commission disregards Israeli war crimes

      Thursday, 31 January, 2008 @ 4:23 PM


Beirut / New York - Amnesty International called a report published 
yesterday by the Winograd Commission on Israel's conduct in the war with 
Hizbullah in July-August 2006 "deeply flawed."

The organization said that the report failed to investigate a crucial aspect 
of the war -- the government policies and military strategies that failed to 
discriminate between the Lebanese civilian population and Hizbullah 
combatants and between civilian property and infrastructure and military 
targets.

"This was yet another missed opportunity to address the policies and 
decisions behind the grave violations of international humanitarian law --  
including war crimes -- committed by Israeli forces," said Malcolm Smart, 
Middle East and North Africa Program director.

"The indiscriminate killings of many Lebanese civilians not involved in the 
hostilities and the deliberate and wanton destruction of civilian properties 
and infrastructure on a massive scale were given no more than token 
consideration by the commission," said Smart.

Though not vested with the powers of an official state commission of 
investigation, the Winograd Commission had the power to subpoena witnesses 
and recommend the prosecution of officials it found to have been responsible 
for willful or negligent criminal conduct.

However, the Commission chose to limit its work to reviewing military 
strategy and political decisions, and made no serious attempt to investigate 
violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, 
committed by Israeli forces or to recommend measures for holding those 
responsible for such violations to account. It recommends the development of 
mechanisms to ensure the effectiveness of fighting within the framework of 
international humanitarian law standards, immediate investigations by the 
army when there are concerns that international humanitarian law was 
violated and better preparedness for responding to humanitarian problems 
arising from military action. But the Commission essentially brushed aside 
available evidence of serious violations of international law, claiming that 
interpretations of international humanitarian law are controversial, that it 
did not have the capacity to deal with the volume of data, that the alleged 
violations were already being investigated by other bodies, and that such 
allegations are used as propaganda against Israel. However, it did 
scrutinize military strategies and the conduct of certain operations in 
detail, including in cases which were already being investigated separately.

Based on its on-the-ground research and analysis of the conduct of 
hostilities in 2006, Amnesty International concluded that it was the 
Lebanese civilian population -- not Hizbullah combatants -- who paid the 
heaviest price of the Israeli army's attacks. Of some 1,190 people killed, 
the vast majority were civilians not involved in the hostilities, among them 
hundreds of children. The overwhelming majority of homes, properties and 
infrastructure targeted in air strikes and artillery attacks were likewise 
civilian.

Other international human rights and humanitarian organizations and United 
Nations (U.N.) bodies that examined the situation reached the same 
conclusion. In its report of November 10, 2006 the U.N. Commission of 
Inquiry concluded that: ". a significant pattern of excessive, 
indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by the IDF [Israel Defense 
Forces] against Lebanese civilians and civilian objects, failing to 
distinguish civilians from combatants and civilian objects from military 
targets". A separate investigation by four U.N. independent experts also 
reported in October 2006 that "Available information strongly indicates 
that, in many instances, Israel violated its legal obligations to 
distinguish between military and civilian objectives; to fully apply the 
principle of proportionality."

In addition, the launching of hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs, 
containing an estimated four million cluster sub-munitions (bomblets), in 
the last few days of the war left a deadly legacy. This is continuing to 
cause casualties among the civilian population, humanitarian workers, and 
mine-clearance personnel who put their lives on the line -- literally -- to 
clear unexploded ordnance.

"Although the Winograd Commission recommended that the army review its 
policies on the use of cluster bombs to ensure that the use of these weapons 
will not violate international humanitarian law and army discipline, it did 
not propose any concrete measures," said Smart.

The Israeli government's persistent refusal to hand over the cluster bombs 
strike data and the exact coordinates of the areas into which its forces 
fired the cluster bombs has made this already painstaking mine-clearance 
task more deadly and time consuming. To date, 40 people (27 civilians and 13 
de-mining personnel) have been killed and 243 have been injured (200 
civilians and 34 de-mining personnel) by unexploded ordnance and the U.N. 
Mine Action Coordination Centre (U.N.-MACC) has identified more then 900 
sites contaminated by unexploded but still lethal remnants of cluster bombs 
and other ordnance launched by Israeli forces into South Lebanon.

Amnesty International called on the Israeli government to:

* Provide to the U.N.-MACC the cluster bombs strike data and the exact 
coordinates of the areas into which its forces fired cluster bombs.

* Establish an independent and impartial investigation into evidence 
indicating that its forces committed serious violations of international 
human rights and humanitarian law during the conflict, including war crimes, 
and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

* Revise its interpretation of the rules and principles relating to the 
concepts of military objective, military advantage and proportionality, to 
ensure that its interpretation is fully consistent with international 
humanitarian law, and that the Israeli military complies fully with the duty 
to take precautionary measures when carrying out attacks, as well as in 
defense, and does not carry out attacks as a form of collective punishment. 
* Announce a moratorium on the use of all cluster weapons and, in any event, 
ensure that such weapons are never again used in civilian areas under any 
circumstances.

The organization also called on Hizbullah, whose forces also committed war 
crimes during the 2006 conflict, to:

* Renounce its unlawful policy of reprisal rocket attacks against the 
civilian population of Israel and ensure that its fighters comply fully with 
the need to take precautionary measures in attacks and in defense, including 
the need to distinguish themselves from non-combatants to the maximum extent 
possible.

* Ensure that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the two Israeli soldiers 
captured by Hizbullah fighters on July 12, 2006, are treated humanely at all 
times and are allowed immediate access to the International Committee of the 
Red Cross (ICRC).

..................................................................
For more information, please call the AIUSA Media office at 202-544-0200 
x302.

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