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An Open Letter to Human Rights Watch
Cairo - 11 December 2006 We were profoundly shocked by Human Rights Watch's (HRW) press release: Civilians Must Not Be Used to Shield Homes Against Military Attacks (1). This press release is both deeply flawed and unbalanced, and is symptomatic of HRW's overall position on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The press release centers upon two events, both in the north of the Gaza Strip. The first concerns the action of the women of Beit Hanoun. During a brutal Israeli incursion into Beit Hanoun (which killed some 77 Palestinians) the women went to the mosque where many of the men of the town and some resistance fighters were trapped by the Israeli army. They shielded the men with their own bodies and managed to get them to safety away from the Israeli army. Israeli soldiers shot and killed two of the women. The second event concerns the people of the Jabalyia Refugee camp. Israeli routinely destroys Palestinian homes, in breach of international law. A favored tactic is to phone the person, often at night, to tell them that their home is to be destroyed and that they should flee. A short time later the Israeli air force bombs the house with F-16, or destroys it with a missile from an Apache helicopter or Drone. Israel destroyed 105 Palestinian homes between July and mid-November 2005. On the 15 November 2005 the residence of Jabalyia decided that enough is enough. When Israel phoned a warning of the imminent destruction of his house to Baroud a commander in the Popular Resistance Committees he told his neighbors and friends. Rather than allow Israel to destroy yet another house, they surrounded Baroud's home, some even sat on the roof. Israel had no choice, after the massacre of 19 civilians in Beit Hanoun which had created an international outcry; it could not afford further bad press (particularly since there was no longer the distraction of American elections for the media) they cancelled the attack. Both cases were a clear victory for non-violent Palestinian resistance to naked Israeli aggression and occupation. HRW's response? It has clearly accused the Palestinians of war crimes because "It is a war crime to seek to use the presence of civilians to render certain points or areas immune from military operations"(2) . Such crude and overtly political manipulation of the facts is outrageous. HRW have taken the definition of a war crime from the Rome Statute Article 8, 2, (b) xxiii. The key to understanding HRW error is in their interpretation of the verb to USE (though technically 'utilization' from the Rome Statue itself). The women of Beit Hanoun were not USED or forced by anyone. They went of their own choice, at great danger to themselves, to protect their brothers, husbands, children and neighbors. Likewise the people of Jabalyia were not USED or forced by anyone. They too went of their own free will, at great danger to themselves, to protect their neighbor's house from illegal destruction by Israel. Does HRW wish to suggest that Palestinian civilians have no non-violent means to resist Israeli occupation? Since every time they organize themselves and go anywhere it is of course possible that they will be preventing Israel attacking the area where they are, even if the target it not legitimate. For HRW states that: 'In the case where the object of attack is not a legitimate military target, calling civilians to the scene would still contravene the international humanitarian law'(3) . HRW press release is flawed and should be retracted. However, the situation is even worse than a simple error as HRW's entire approach is extremely one sided. HRW mentions at the end of the press release that they have documented the use of Palestinians as 'human shields', however this was back in 2002. Further more they note, without any explicit condemnation, that: 'as recently as July 2006, Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups have documented the IDF's forcible use of Palestinians as human shields in a well publicized incident during military operations in Beit Hanoun. According to the groups, the IDF blindfolded six civilians, including two minors, and forced them to stand in front of soldiers who took over civilian homes during a raid in northern Gaza' .(4) Further more the HRW press release failed to mention that Israel killed two of the Palestinian women from Beit Hanoun during their rescue of the men from the mosque. Both the women were unarmed, both civilians, therefore, both protected persons under the Geneva Convention. That they were killed by Israeli in such circumstances constitutes a grave breach of the IV Geneva Conventions and hence a war crime under Article 147 (and therefore, also a war crime under the Rome Statute Article 8, 2 (a)). To summarize HRW's actions: They have chosen to focus on wrongly labeling non-violent Palestinian resistance to Israeli aggression, war crimes, and occupation as war crimes whilst at the same time failing to condemn Israeli actions. This cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. Therefore, we the undersigned call upon HRW to retract its press release and to publicly explain the reasoning behind it. Signatory Organizations:
1- Human Rights Watch press release - http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/11/22/isrlpa14652.htm 2- Human Rights Watch press release - http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/11/22/isrlpa14652.htm 3- Human Rights Watch press release - http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/11/22/isrlpa14652.htm 4- Human Rights Watch press release - http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/11/22/isrlpa14652.htm |
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