Kritik mot Goldstone rapporten om Gazakriget

FN:s mänskorättsråds undersökning av Gazakriget kommer att presenteras för rådet av undersökningsledaren Richard Godstone den 29 september skriver Anne Bayefsky på Eye on The UN.
Bayefsky kritiserar undersökningen för att det på förhand är klart att den kommer att anklaga Israel för krigsbrott. Deltagare i undersökningskommissionen hade redan innan de valts till uppdraget uttalat sig och sagt att de ansåg att Israel gjort sig skyldig till brott i kriget.
Resolutionen från mänskorättsrådet som ligger till grund för undersökningen säger också klart vad det är fråga om: Det är Israels agerande som skall undersökas, undersökningsgruppen fick inget uppdrag att undersöka palestinska brott.
Rubriken för resolution S-9/1 från den 12 januari ger också en klar bild av vad det är fråga om:
"The Grave Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including the recent aggression in the occupied Gaza Strip".
Canada röstade mot den ensidiga resolutionen men EU länderna avstod från att rösta. Tyvärr verkar de europeiska länderna inte ta sitt ansvar i mänskorättsrådet.

Undersökningsgruppens mandat:
"Human Rights Council... Decides to dispatch an urgent, independent international fact-finding mission, to be appointed by the President of the Council, to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying Power, Israel, against the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression, and calls upon Israel not to obstruct the process of investigation and to fully cooperate with the mission".

This mandate is from Resolution S-9/1, whose title alone tells the story: "The Grave Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including the recent aggression in the occupied Gaza Strip". It was adopted on 12 January 2009 at the Human Rights Council 9th Special Session. Only Canada voted against this one-sided resolution intended to create yet another layer of UN demonization and discrimination against the state of Israel. The European Union abstained.


Såhär ser den planerade tidtabellen ut för mänskorättsrådets tolfte session:
- Agenda Item 7: Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories is scheduled for 29 September 2009, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 3 p.m.- 6 p.m. (Geneva time)
- Goldstone is scheduled to present his Report on 29 September 2009, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (Geneva time)
- Anti-Israel resolutions to be introduced on 1 and 2 October
- Voting on anti-Israel resolutions is scheduled to take place on 1 and 2 October

På följande sida finns en mängd fakta om Goldstones undersökningsgrupp:
The Goldstone Inquiry: The UN Blood Libel
Uttalanden från medlemmar i undersökningsgruppen:
"Christine Chinkin signed a letter dated January 11, 2009, which appeared in The Times, stating: "Israel's bombardment of Gaza is not self-defence - it's a war crime."

LSE Law Professor Urged to Step Down from U.N Gaza Inquiry over Bias

Varför vägrade bl.a. Mary Robinson och Matti Ahtisaari att leda undersökningsgruppen?
Why Mary Robinson rejected the mandate accepted by Judge Goldstone

U.N.’s Imminent Gaza Report Challenged by 50 U.K. & Canadian Lawyers for ‘Bias’


Trots att rapporten ännu inte har presenterats för mänskorättsrådet offentliggjordes den i tisdags.

Den första reaktionen från Israel kan läsas här:
Israel's initial reaction to the report of the Goldstone Fact Finding Mission

Jerusalem Post skriver:
'Both sides committed possible crimes against humanity in Gaza'

Israel kritiserar rapporten palestinierna är nöjda.
Israel slams, PA praises UN report
"Foreign Ministry statement added that the report was "a shameful chapter in the history of international law regarding the right of nations to defend themselves..."

"...The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, said the findings "confirmed" allegations that Israel had committed "war crimes" against the Gaza Strip population.
The PA said that it would demand that Israeli civilian and security officials responsible for the war be brought to trial before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The PA also welcomed the charges against Hamas, saying the movement was also responsible for "atrocities" against Palestinians. Hamas did not issue an official response. However, a Hamas legislator in the Gaza Strip expressed astonishment because the report had failed to distinguish between the "aggressor and the victim."