Israel’s March-April Military Campaign in the 1967 Occupied
Palestinian Territories and the Destruction of the Oslo Framework
BADIL Resource Center
for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights
Bethlehem, Palestine
International
law and UN resolutions provide an objective framework for the resolution of political
conflict, in general, and specifically as a framework for durable solutions for
refugees and other displaced persons. While the implementation of international
law and UN resolutions cannot, in itself, guarantee a durable solution, a
solution reached outside the framework of international law and UN resolutions
will neither be just, durable or binding.
The United
Nations and its individual member states together share responsibility for the
protection of the fundamental human rights and respect for humanitarian norms
as set forth in international law. The mandate emanates from the 1945 Charter
of the United Nations, Article 1(1), which establishes the purpose of the
UN as being:
to maintain international peace and security, and to that
end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of
threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other
breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity
with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement
of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the
peace.
International
law and UN resolutions – i.e., UNGA 194(1948), UNSC 237(1967), 242(1967) and
338(1967) – provide the foundation for a comprehensive, just and durable
solution to the historic conflict in the Middle East. The political process,
security measures and all agreements between the parties to the conflict must
protect the fundamental human rights of all persons and respect humanitarian
norms as set forth in international law.
The
collapse of the political process between Israel and the PLO is related, in
large part, to the chronic lack of international protection of fundamental
human rights and lack of respect for humanitarian norms since the inception of
the Madrid/Oslo process nearly a decade ago characterized by: ongoing land
confiscation, settlement construction, house demolition, exploitation of
natural resources, internal and external military closure, denial of residency
rights, denial of the right to self-determination, and rejection of the right
of return. Unlike most peace agreements, including those signed between Israel
and its neighbors Egypt and Jordan, the ‘Oslo Accords’ stipulate that relations
between Israel and the Palestinians will be conducted on the basis of an agreed
upon political process rather than international law and the Charter of the
United Nations.
Reporting
on status of human rights in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories several
weeks after the onset of Israel’s military campaign to crush the popular
Palestinian uprising (al-Aqsa intifada), the UN Special Rapporteur on
Human Rights in the occupied territories wrote:
In
general, respondents identified one of the main causes of the recent
Palestinian protests as accumulated frustration at the perceived shortcomings
of the Oslo process, both as to content and implementation, and notably its
failure to uphold human rights and humanitarian norms. Both the local
Palestinian and Israeli interlocutors consulted emphasized to the Special
Rapporteur that none of the concerned parties could possibly not be cognizant
of the danger inherent in this failure: the people in the street, Israeli
intelligence, the Commission on Human Rights, the various treaty bodies, the
General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur, the Palestinian Authority. They
lamented that, in spite of that, no corrective action had been taken. Moreover,
they uniformly deplored the double standard that has applied to the occupied
Palestinian territories of tolerating or facilitating the Israeli occupation
authorities’ unbroken pattern of violations. In particular, they point out the
contradiction between the standards established by the United Nations and the
simultaneous ineffectiveness of the United Nations in upholding its own
principles. [Emphasis added]
UN Doc. E/CN.4/S-5/3, 17 October 2000
More than
18 months after the beginning of Israel’s military campaign to crush all forms
of popular Palestinian resistance to Israel’s illegal military occupation,
denial of the right to self-determination and rejection of the basic human
rights of Palestinian refugees (i.e., right of return, real property
restitution, and compensation for losses and damages), US-led international
efforts to find a formula that will bring an end to the ‘cycle of violence’ and
facilitate a return to political negotiations (“Mitchell-Tenet-Zinni process”)
have failed. The Mitchell fact-finding committee recommendations and the Tenet
cease-fire plan did not include a single reference to international law and the
protection of fundamental human rights and humanitarian norms.
An
increasing number of international expert teams, as well as western and Arab
diplomats have begun to suggest that the unsuccessful “bottom-up” approach
leading from a cease-fire through confidence building to bilateral negotiations
should be abandoned and replaced by a new and internationally backed “top-down”
approach. The latter is a new formula which, based on the conclusion that the
two parties are unable to resolve the conflict bilaterally, calls upon the
international community to lay out a comprehensive peace plan (along the lines
of the Saudi proposal), and to impose it on the parties by means of upgraded
international involvement, including the possibility of some form of
international monitoring/peace keeping force. This new formula currently under
debate has yet to demonstrate a serious commitment to international law and
relevant UN resolutions.
While the search for a new peace formula continues, the chronic lack of
international protection for fundamental human rights and lack of respect for
humanitarian norms has assumed appalling proportions, particularly for the
Palestinian people, including refugees, residing in the 1967 occupied
Palestinian territories. More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed, most of
whom are civilians. More than 300 Israelis have been killed, more than half of
whom are civilians. Israel’s military campaign to crush the al-Aqsa intifada
has completely disregarded the protected status of the entire Palestinian
civilian population. Damage and destruction of private property and public
infrastructure is widespread. Humanitarian operations, including emergency
medical assistance and delivery of basic food supplies, have been severely
obstructed. The steep rise in unemployment and the number of persons living
below the poverty line in the occupied territories is unparalleled.
The durability of any future political process will depend upon the
ability of the international community to bring an end to the massive and
systematic violation of fundamental human rights and humanitarian norms in the
1967 occupied territories, ensure that all agreements are fully consistent with
international law and UN resolutions, and institute mechanisms to guarantee the
protection of fundamental human rights and respect for humanitarian norms. The
first part of this report provides a brief overview of Israel’s massive and
systematic violation of international law in the occupied Palestinian
territories in April 2002. The second part of the reports provides a series of
recommendations – i.e., an ‘Agenda for Action’ for a comprehensive, just and
durable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
.
Since the onset of Israel’s military campaign to crush popular
Palestinian resistance to Israel’s illegal military occupation, denial of the
right to self-determination and rejection of the basic human rights of
Palestinian refugees, the pervasive lack of respect for fundamental human
rights and lack of respect for humanitarian norms has assumed appalling
proportions in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories. More than 1,400
Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands have been injured
(Palestinian Red Crescent Society, PRCS). Thousands of homes have been either
destroyed or severely damaged. Public infrastructure, including health and
education institutions, electricity and water supplies and roads, have been
ravaged. Unemployment has doubled and more than 50 percent of the population is
living below the poverty line. Refugees, who comprise 50 percent of the
population of the occupied territories, women and children have been particular
vulnerable to the impact of Israel’s military campaign (See BADIL Bulletin
No. 8, “A Climate of Vulnerability – International Protection, Palestinian
Refugees and the al-Aqsa Intifada, One Year Later, September 2001).
Despite recommendations issued by
all major UN human rights bodies – i.e., UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
(UN Doc. E/CN.4/2001/114, 29 November 2000), UN Commission on Human Rights (UN
Doc. E/CN.4/2002/121, March 2001),
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights
in the Occupied Territories (UN Doc. E/CN.5/S-5/3, 17 October 2000 and
E/CN.4/2002/32, 6 March 2002), and the Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights – and despite repeated calls by the international community for
Israel to comply with obligations set forth in the Fourth Geneva Convention
of 1949 and human rights instruments – including the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the two international covenants, commonly
referred to as the 1966 "International Bill of Rights", among others
– Israel continues to disregard international law.
The purpose of the principal international instrument
concerned with the protection of civilians under military occupation, the
Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, is to ensure respect for the human rights of
protected persons. This is made clear by article 27 of the Convention, which
provides that the Occupying Power is to respect the fundamental rights of
protected persons. According to the Commentary of the International Committee
of the Red Cross on this provision: “The right to respect for the person must
be understood in its widest sense: it covers all the rights of the individual,
that is, the rights and qualities which are inseparable from the human being by
the very fact of his existence and his mental and physical powers; it includes,
in particular, the right to physical, moral and intellectual integrity – an
essential attribute of the human person” (p. 201). The “rights of the
individual” have been proclaimed, described and interpreted in international
human rights instruments, particularly the international covenants on civil and
political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights of 1966, and in the
jurisprudence of their monitoring bodies. These human rights instruments
therefore complement the Fourth Geneva Convention by defining and giving
content to the rights protected in article 27. This is borne out by repeated
resolutions of the General Assembly (for example, resolution 2675 (XXV)) and by
the Vienna Declaration adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993,
which declared that:
“Effective international measures to
guarantee and monitor the implementation of human rights standards should be
taken in respect of people under foreign occupation, and effective legal
protection against the violation of their human rights should be provided, in
accordance with human rights norms and international law, particularly the
Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of
War, of 14 August 1949, and other applicable norms of humanitarian law.”
Violations include: the right to
life, right to an adequate standard of living, right to adequate housing, right
to education, right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health, torture, and freedom of movement. These violations affect, in varying
degrees, nearly the entire Palestinian population of the 1967 occupied
Palestinian territories and amount to a systematic policy of collective
punishment.
Israel’s pervasive lack of respect for fundamental human rights and
humanitarian norms is joined by a chronic lack of international protection for
these basic rights and norms. Despite repeated recommendations by all major UN
human rights bodies and international and local human rights organizations for
the deployment of international forces in the 1967 occupied Palestinian
territories to protect fundamental human rights and ensure respect for
humanitarian norms, the international community has failed to deploy or even
study the option for the deployment of international forces. The United States,
in particular, has repeatedly obstructed the deployment of international forces
through lobbying members of the UN Security Council to vote against or abstain
from draft Security Council resolutions calling for the establishment of an
international protection force (S/2000/1171, 18 December 2000) and, when unable
to convince or pressure members, the United States has repeatedly used its veto
to block initiatives (S/2001/270, 26 March 2001, S/2001/1199, 14 December 2001)
by other member states.
The pervasive disregard for international humanitarian and human rights
law reached a dramatic peak in March and April 2002 in the context of two
massive military assaults (Operations “The Colors Journey” and “Defensive Wall”)
launched by Israel to crush the al-Aqsa intifada. In the six weeks
between March and mid-April 2002 Israeli military forces have killed more than
400 Palestinians comprising 30 percent of the total number of Palestinians
killed by Israeli military forces and settlers since the beginning of the al-Aqsa
intifada in September 2000. Israel’s violations of international
humanitarian and human rights law include war crimes and crimes against
humanity as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
(UN Doc. A/Conf.183/9, 1998). The UN Commission on Human Rights has considered
Israel's continued "grave breaches" of the 1949 Fourth Geneva
Convention as rising to the level of war crimes since 1972 and recently
reaffirmed this view during a Special Session of the Commission in October
2000.
War crimes committed during Israel’s military assaults in March and
April 2002 include:
Crimes against humanity may include:
It won’t be possible to reach an
agreement with [the Palestinians] before the Palestinians are hit hard. Now
they have to be hit. If they aren’t badly beaten, there won’t be any negotiations.
Only after they are beaten will we be able to conduct talks.
Ha’aretz, 5
March 2002
As the UN Special Rapporteur for
Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, John Dugard, noted in his recent
report to the UN Commission on Human Rights,
It
is against this background that it is necessary to reiterate that it is the
military occupation of the Palestinian Territory that is responsible for most
of the violations of humanitarian law and human rights … Similarly it is
necessary to recall the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention as the
governing law. On 5 December 2001, the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth
Geneva Convention reaffirmed the applicability of this Convention to the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, reiterated the need for full respect for the
provision of the Convention and recalled the obligations under the Convention
of the parties to the conflict and of the State of Israel as the Occupying
Power.
UN Doc. E/CN.4/2002/32, 6 March 2002
The following subsections provide an
overview of Israel’s violations of fundamental human rights and humanitarian
norms during Operation “Defensive Wall” in April 2002.
Attacks on
Civilian Population (“Protected Persons”)
International and local humanitarian agencies have
been unable to establish the total number of dead and injured since Israel’s
latest military assault on Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps began
in late March 2002 due to the lack of humanitarian access (See below).
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), the number of confirmed
deaths during the first two weeks (as of 13 April) reached nearly 150. The
impact of Israel’s military campaign on human security is even more chilling if
one includes the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during
both recent military operations – “The Colors Journey” and “Defensive Wall” –
in March and April 2002. Nearly 400 Palestinians were killed (PRCS) comprising
almost 30 percent of the number killed (1,412, PRCS) over the last 18 months.
The majority of Palestinians killed and injured by
Israeli military forces are civilians. While the large majority of deaths
during the first months of the al-Aqsa intifada occurred during
demonstrations between Israeli forces and mostly unarmed Palestinian
protestors, civilian deaths, particularly during Israel’s recent military
assaults in March and April 2002, are increasingly the result of the use of
heavy machinegun fire, tank rounds, missiles, and aerial bombardment from F-16
fighter jets in civilian areas.
At
around 10 am on Friday [5 April], twenty Israeli tanks entered Tubas from its
eastern side and indiscriminately shelled city quarters. As a result,
13-year-old Dima Sawafta was killed by a gunshot in the chest while at home,
ten others were variously injured. Ambulances could not reach them due to heavy
gunfire. Also in Tubas, Iyad Abed Sawafta (22), a farmer, who was working on
his land, was killed. An Israeli soldier shot him, east of Tubas. Two live
bullets entered his head and chest at 1 o'clock this afternoon.
LAW Press Release, 5 April 2002
On
the morning of April 10 at 5:15 am, two residents of Dura, Hebron District,
33-year-old Aref Mahmud Sayid Ahmad and 32-year-old Na'if Salem Sayid Ahmad
were on their way home from morning prayers at a mosque in the town. When they were
ten metres away from Aref Ahmad's house, a missile was shot from a helicopter
which killed both men. The explosion caused a fire in Aref Ahmad's home. His
wife and eight-year-old daughter sustained head injuries from the shrapnel.
Faruq, Na'if Ahmad's brother, sustained a serious leg injury. Due to the curfew
imposed on the city, it was impossible to send an ambulance to evacuate the
injured and the bodies of the deceased. They are still in Na'if Ahmad's house.
B'Tselem, cited in Christian Aid Press Release, 11 April 2002
During March and April 2002, Palestinian refugees
residing in camps in the 1967 occupied territories have been particularly
vulnerable to Israeli military attacks. Damages to refugee shelters caused by
indiscriminate Israeli shelling are especially large in the densely built-up
refugee camps, where makeshift constructions are less resistant to attacks by
heavy Israeli ammunition and missiles, and shock and anxiety attacks,
especially among the children and elderly, spread among the whole crowded camp
population. It is estimated that Israeli forces killed at least refugees in
Jenin refugee camp alone; humanitarian personnel are unable to confirm the
total number of dead until Israel permits full access to the camp.
The
Israeli Defence Force has made a hellish battleground among the civilians in
the Balata and Jenin refugee camps. We are getting reports of pure horror --
that helicopters are strafing civilian residential areas; that systematic shelling
by tanks has created hundreds of wounded; that bulldozers are razing refugee
homes to the ground and that food and medicine will soon run out. In the name
of human decency the Israeli military must allow our ambulances safe passage to
help evacuate the wounded and deliver emergency supplies of medicines and food.
Peter Hansen, UNRWA Commissioner General, 7 April 2002
Israel’s recent military assault on Palestinian cities, villages and
refugee camps has resulted in widespread shortages of food and water. Two weeks
into Israel’s military campaign, for example, the Palestinian Red Crescent
Society (PRCS) reported that it was struggling to cope with the flood of
requests for emergency food aid in the West Bank city of Ramallah where the
number of calls increased three-fold. The situation was similar across the West
Bank with the civilian population confined to their homes under tight curfew
and shop owners unable to bring in fresh produce, dairy products and household
goods. Food shortages have been aggravated by a general lack of cash, the lack
of humanitarian access to bring in necessary food stocks, and looting of food
stocks from stores and private homes by Israeli soldiers.
We had nothing to eat or drink and one my sisters
fainted from hunger. We could smell a fire in the house next to us but had
nowhere to go. Snipers were hiding outside and the helicopter was drawing
closer.
Hanan, age 23, Jenin refugee camp, Agence-France
Presse, 11 April 2002
I live close to Max
Supermarket. I saw all that happened. The tank came and broke the front door,
and then they closed the other door, went in, and broke another door. Then they
exploded the safe, obviously to steal the money inside, this is the proof that
they were after money. Computers and offices all went in the process. Also the
special store for special foods was destroyed. The safe did not open though, a
small hole only. We heard everything. Our neighbors said that they had
two APC's full of soldiers with them, and they began to load in food
items. They took them away and came back and filled up again with food and
left. Later, we went and saw how it was, the destruction and the loss of food
items. Two APC's were loaded with food.
Large
parts of the civilian population have been without electricity, often for days
on end, due to damage to the power grid. Engineering crews have been unable to
cope with the massive destruction, unable to operate due to round-the-clock
curfews, or forced to suspend repair work due to shooting from Israeli forces.
By 3 April 2002, some 5 days into Israel’s military assault, for example, the
Palestine Red Crescent was reporting that half of Ramallah was still without
electricity. Disruptions to the removal of garbage, which has piled up in the
streets along with severe restrictions on the movement of humanitarian
personnel who have been unable to remove the dead from public places have
further exacerbated the threat to basic public health. In many cities, dead
bodies were allowed to remain in the street and in homes for days before the
Red Cross or Red Crescent were allowed to remove the bodies.
I think it is particularly appalling that religious
observance in connection with death and burial have been so grossly violated.
And I do appeal to everybody to respect the basic religious (inaudible),
something that the Israeli population of Judaic tradition can understand very
well. I hope that it can be respected, but the incidences of mass graves, of
people dying in houses, bleeding to death, and then being impossible to remove
them. I spoke to a family in a camp recently where they had to make the burial
in their own little courtyard within their shelter. These are conditions which
remind me of the worst days in Angola where people in besieged cities had to
bury their dead in the small piece of land still available.
Peter Hansen, UNRWA Commissioner General, UN Dept. of
Public Information (DPI), 5 April 2002
The threat to the health care system and the complete closure of schools
has hit women and children particularly hard. One week into Israel’s military
assault the UN Population Fund warned of a rise in maternal and infant deaths
due to the inability of women to reach health facilities.
Emergency obstetric care, such as surgical delivery,
is inaccessible to most women in the occupied Palestinian territory and delays
at checkpoints of women in labour have resulted in unattended roadside births
and even deaths of some women and infants. Even before the recent escalation,
one fifth of pregnant women in Gaza and the West Bank could not receive
prenatal care because of the difficulty of travelling through checkpoints to
health facilities. This access to obstetric care has become even more limited
over the past week as a result of the reoccupation of major cities, such as
Ramallah, Nablus and Bethlehem, and the imposition of a policy of closure and
prolonged curfews on their populations. This situation leaves pregnant women
without access to live-saving medical assistance. A programme initiated six
months ago to train midwives and nurses from some villages in the West Bank and
Gaza to provide emergency obstetric care in urgent situations is now inadequate
as the crisis escalates.
UN Population Fund Press Release, 5 April 2002
International agencies such as UNICEF and Save the Children Fund have
warned of the severe impact of Israel’s military assault on Palestinian
children across the West Bank.
Children
are being denied access to health services, and are unable to attend school and
engage in social activity.
UNICEF Press Release, 4 April 2002
[O]ver 200,000 children in the towns of Bethlehem,
Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Jenin and Nablus have been deprived of access to clean
water. Many parts of these towns are also without electricity, and fresh food
has run out in Bethlehem and Nablus. The continuing curfew in Jenin means that
poorer households may have little or no food at all. The curfews and closures
are affecting over 300,000 children, confining them to their homes, denying
them access to educational facilities and subjecting them to continuing fear.
Children continue to witness the unlawful arrests and killings of family
members and friends, as well as the destruction and looting of their homes and
neighbourhoods.
Save the Children Fund (SCF) Press Release, 12 April
2002
Israeli military
forces have caused massive damage to the civilian infrastructure in the
occupied Palestinian territories, including: private homes and property, public
institutions including schools, medical clinics, ministries of the Palestinian
Authority, non-governmental organizations, churches, mosques, historical sites,
refugee camps, and damage and destruction of streets, electricity, phone and
water supply in all areas invaded by the Israeli military. A comprehensive
assessment of the total damage inflicted by the Israeli military to the
civilian infrastructure during Operation Defensive Wall will not be possible
until the Israeli military permits unhindered access to all cities, villages
and refugee camps in the 1967 occupied territories. Generally, however, reports
indicate that damage and destruction is widespread and indiscriminate.
The
application of violence is very very generalized, there is not a question here
of pinpointing and targeting a few suspects on a wanted list, but there is
entry into homes, house after house, destruction of what is in the houses,
often destruction of the houses. In the West Bank alone, we are now beginning
to catch up if you will in Gaza, there are more than 2,500 destroyed or
partially destroyed shelters. In Gaza, we are talking about even more.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
estimates that the destruction of Palestinian homes alone has left several thousand
people homeless Local sources in Jenin estimate that approximately one third of
the homes in the Jenin refugee camp have been destroyed since 3 April by
Israeli bulldozers in a process referred to as ‘shaving’. There are reports as
well of homes being bulldozed on top of the people inside them in Jenin refugee
camp and in the Yasmina quarter in Nablus. Tank shells, missiles and
indiscriminate heavy machine gun fire from Apache helicopters have also heavily
damaged refugee shelters and homes.
I
have not myself been able to go to the camps (since) about a week ago or so,
but I am told from the reports we are getting in from the camps, we have our
staff inside there, that the situation is really unprecedented. There is this
massive destruction of shelters and destruction of infrastructure, water lines;
electricity is being cut off. Of course many installations that the Israeli
army has used have also suffered very bad damage. It is quite appalling to see,
and I have seen that myself, how some installations, for instance in the health
and medical area, have been destroyed and medicines smashed, a dentists's chair
kicked over and ripped out of the floor, threatening graffiti written in Hebrew
on the wall. It is really not what one would expect from a disciplined army to
see this kind of destruction.
Peter Hansen, UNRWA Commissioner General, UN Dept. of
Public Information (DPI), 5 April 2002
Israeli
military forces have also heavily damaged, ransacked and looted public institutions
and civil society organizations. This includes the Palestinian Ministry of
Civil Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Palestinian
Legislative Council, numerous municipal offices, libraries, charitable
societies and non-governmental organizations such as al-Haq, Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, Mandela Institute for Political
Prisoners, and Mattin Group. Many institutions remain occupied by Israeli
military forces and independent observers are unable to assess damage and
destruction. In those institutions where individuals have gained access, there
is widespread destruction of computers, files, and office equipment,
confiscation of computer hard drives and documents (including financial
records) as well as structural damage (Palestinian Emergency NGO Initiative in
Jerusalem, 13 April 2002).
They broke everything when they came in, and stole as
well. We are merchants and have money at home always, they stole all the money
we have, lots of money,
at least 25,000 USD, and also batteries, 3 mobiles and expensive watches.
It is crazy, but they also stole our prayer rugs and Qur'an! "
(Internet reports, name withheld), March 30, 10
a.m., al-Bireh
They came in, placed us all in one room,
searched the house, and when we came out we realized that the following was
missing: 3000 USD, NIS 1800, pens, a watch, a video camera battery, brand new
in its box... they left the box, and took also my 050 (Israeli) mobile phone.
(Internet reports, name withheld), March 30, 11
a.m., al-Bireh
Extra-Judicial Killings
Israel’s policy of extra-judicial killings appears to have reached a new
level during the latest military assault on Palestinian cities, villages and
refugee camps. Israel has continued the illegal policy referred to by the
military as "death kill verification".
In Hebron, at 2.30 this afternoon, two Apache
helicopters attacked a civilian car, in another attempt of extra-judicial
killing. The helicopters fired three missiles, however they missed the car that
was driving in Abu Ghanam street, downtown Hebron. The missiles hit another car
and destroyed it completely. There were seven persons, most of them bystanders
injured in the attack, including 11-year old Mohammad Amin Sughayer, who is in
critical condition, with second and third degree burns on 90 percent of his
body.
LAW, 5 April 2002
Moreover, there are numerous reports of executions of unarmed
Palestinian prisoners. The first reports surfaced with news and photographs of
five officers from the Palestinian security forces – Khaled Fathi Mahmoud Awad
(33), Ismail Ibrahim Zaid (56), Said Hamam Abdelrahman (60), Abdelrahman Tawfiq
Abdallah (58), and Omar Muhammad Musa (54) – shot dead at close range in
Ramallah (LAW, 30 March 2002). Israeli military forces subsequently prevented
journalists and independent observers from entering the building where the
bodies were found. Due to severe restrictions imposed by Israel on humanitarian
personnel and journalists independent observers are unable to confirm the total
number of extra-judicial killings.
Eyewitnesses from Jenin refugee camp report summary executions of
civilians/combatants after detention; resistance fighters in the camp reported
that eight fighters were summarily executed on 10 April in front of their
families after their surrender to the Israeli army. Eyewitnesses have also
reported that Israeli forces have dug mass graves in the refugee camp, dumped
bodies into the sewage, removed bodies to unknown places, and bulldozed entire
areas of the camp in order to “clean up” the site (LAW, 8 April 2002). Two weeks into Israel’s military assault, the UN
Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Ms. Asma
Jahangir, voiced alarm at the growing number of reports, particularly in
connection with the military assault on Jenin refugee camp and called for
urgent and prompt investigation of all allegations.
Israeli
military forces have conducted massive sweeps through cities, villages and
refugee camps in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories detaining and
arresting thousands of Palestinians. It is estimated (B’tselem, UNRWA, UNSCO)
that Israel has detained between 3,500 and 5,000 Palestinians at military and
detention facilities in Ofer (near Ramallah), Megiddo (inside Israel), Salem
(near Jenin) and at other permanent detention facilities during the course of
two weeks of military operations.
In many cases, mass detentions were conducted according to broad
criteria of age and gender, thus many Palestinians were detained simply because
they were present where detentions were being carried out and not because they
were under suspicion. In most cases, families are not informed of the
whereabouts of their detained relatives, as the identity of many of them is
unknown. Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations have received
information about inhumane conditions (insufficient food, overcrowding, cold,
humiliation, beating) and the use of torture during interrogations in the Ofer
military camp located near Ramallah. The Israeli Central Commander of the West
Bank has issued a sweeping order pertaining to all detainees that bans meetings
with lawyers. As a result, a close examination of holding conditions is
impossible. The High Court of Justice has rejected a petition of four human
rights organizations, which demanded to be allowed into the Ofer military camp.
I was handcuffed and blindfolded and taken along with
another 90 men to their military camp in Salem, just outside Jenin. We had no
food or water for two days and had to stay outside. I was beaten up and
undressed. I had to kneel for hours, handcuffed with my head bent down …
tightening the handcuffs so bad it would stop our blood circulation.
Abu Mohammed, age 36, Agence-France Presse, 11 April
2002
Israeli
military forces have also broken into UN installations and detained staff and
others present in the buildings. Special Israeli forces and army units broke
into UNRWA's Ramallah Men's Training Centre on 9 April, for example, arresting
104 trainees along with the Dean of the Centre Dr. Mohammad Omran (UNRWA Press
Release, 10 April 2002). Moreover, hundreds of detainees that have subsequently
been released were let go in the midst of severe curfew and were unable to
reach their homes placing them in serious physical danger. There are also
reports of Israeli military forces releasing detainees on the outskirts of
urban areas and firing at them causing injury and reported death.
Israeli
military forces have also taken Palestinian civilians hostage and use them for
human shields. On 3 April 2002, for example, Israeli military forces entered
the Palestinian Ministry of Education in Ramallah and took four employees
hostage – Salah Sibyani, Jamil Shteiya, Awad Zeidan, and Hassan Shahin – using
them as human shields while they searched the building (LAW, 4 April 2002). The
military then took the same four persons to use as human shields to search a
nearby elementary school and the Palestinian Legislative Council building.
Palestinian
civilians have also been used as human shields by Israeli soldiers conducting
raids on medical institutions.
On
March 8, at approximately 1:00 pm, six Israeli soldiers entered the al-Baq
Mosque in the old city of Nablus, where an emergency clinic had been
established. According to the information provided by Dr. Zahara el-Wawi, a
doctor present at the clinic, the soldiers entered the mosque with their guns
resting on the shoulders of Palestinian civilians who were forced to march in
front of the soldiers as “human shields.” The soldiers separated the medical
staff from the patients, searched the dead bodies, and checked the identities
of the injured.
B’tselem, 11 April 2002
An
estimated 80 percent of the Palestinian population in the West Bank,
approximately 1 million persons, has been directly affected by Israel’s
March/April military assault on Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps.
Collective punishment includes curfew and mass destruction of the civilian
infrastructure. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) estimates that some 280,000 Palestinians in urban areas have been placed
under 24 hour prolonged curfews during which it is forbidden for residents for
leave their homes. This includes: Jenin camp (13,000) and town (40,000);
Ramallah-Al-Bireh (40,000) and camps (7,000), Dura, Bethlehem (21,500) and
camps (Dheisheh, Aida - 15,000), Nablus (110,000) town and refugee camps
(20,000); Beit Jala (12,300); Hebron H2 (18,000). A number of villages (e.g.
Tel, Ilar, Anabta) also remain under curfews - no precise numbers are yet
available.
The extent
to which Israel’s military assaults constitute collective punishment is
illustrated by the extent of damage to property, and levels of unemployment and
poverty, which are expected to rise dramatically as a result of “Operation
Defensive Wall”. During the first three months of 2002, for example, Israeli
military forces demolished more than 200 refugee shelters and damaged more
2,000 others in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The total damage to refugee
shelters during the first three months of 2002, not including the large number
of shelters destroyed in April, is equal to more than half of the entire damage
resulting from Israeli military assaults since the beginning of the Palestinian
uprising (UNRWA Progress Reports).
According
to the World Bank, unemployment levels in the 1967 occupied territories
(including persons who have given up hope in finding employment and are no
longer searching for work) nearly doubled to 40 percent between September 2000
and December 2001 (Fifteen Months, Intifada, Closure and Palestinian
Economic Crisis, 18 March 2002). As of November 2001 unemployment in West Bank
refugee camps already stood at 37 percent with the rate in Gaza Strip camps at
50 percent. It is estimated that more than half the total Palestinian
population is living below the poverty line (US$2 per person per day) in the
occupied territories. Already by November 2001, the poverty rate among
Palestinian refugees was around 46 percent (West Bank) to 65 percent (Gaza
Strip).
Humanitarian
Access
All major
international humanitarian organizations and local NGOs state that Israeli
military forces have and continue to severely obstruct humanitarian access to
provide emergency medical assistance, evacuate the wounded and dead, and
prevent or severely delay the delivery of medicines, food, water, and temporary
shelter.
We
got into Ramallah the day before yesterday [April 3] after arrangements had
been made with the Israeli army. That convoy was shot at and had to be
abandoned for a while until we could continue. So work for our staff is
extremely dangerous. On the convoy, I can tell you an example of conditions, an
UNRWA staff member and operations officer was arrested, taken away, handcuffed
and blindfolded, he was put in a detention centre, on the ground, without
walls, there was some corrugated roof over them so the rain only hit them
occasionally. He was sitting handcuffed and blindfolded for 56 hours, without
food for 52 hours, and the food we are talking about after 52 hours was a few
dry crackers. These are completely unacceptable conditions for us to work
under, and I must appeal very very strongly to the Israelis to observe a
minimum of normal decency, not to speak of the humanitarian treaties and
humanitarian law that they are obliged to obey.
Peter
Hansen, UNRWA Commissioner General, UN News Service, 5 April 2002
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), which works in cooperation
with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), estimates that is has
been able to respond on average to only 10 percent of the humanitarian needs
due to the systematic denial of access to the sick and injured (International Federation
of the Red Cross, 12 April 2002).
On Sunday, 7 April 2002, a little after 9:00 pm,
shots were fired in the direction of the house of the S. family, near old Askar
refugee camp, Nablus. As a result, the family's father, a 65-year-old man, was
killed and his 32-year-old daughter S.H, sustained a bullet injury to the
chest. Only on Monday afternoon, following co-ordination with the IDF, was a
Red Crescent ambulance sent to the house to take the daughter to hospital.
However, soldiers shot at the ambulance and ordered its crew to leave the
place. As of this afternoon (April 10) S.H has not yet been evacuated to
hospital.
HaMoked - Center for the Defense of the Individual,
Christian Aid Press Release, 11 April 2002
Ambulances and emergency medical personnel have come under repeated
attack by Israeli military forces. In just over one week the Israeli military
had destroyed and permanently disabled 7 Palestinian Red Crescent Ambulances.
Medical personnel have been subject to arrest, beatings, and detention. On 4
April 2002, for example Israeli military forces entered the PRCS maternity
hospital in Ramallah/Al-Bireh blindfolded 2 doctors, 2 nurses and hospital
worker and took them away. On the same day two PRCS medics were thrown out of
their ambulance and beaten by Israeli soldiers. One staff person reported a
mock execution with two bullets being fired inches from his head while
detained. In Jenin, 6 PRCS staff persons providing assistance to refugees
fleeing Jenin refugee camp were detained, blindfolded, handcuffed and driven
away in armored vehicles (PRCS Updates).
We are talking about four drivers being killed, three
doctors being killed, 122 doctors and drivers injured. I would strongly suggest
that when 185 ambulances have been hit, including 75 per cent of UNRWA's
ambulances, one of our staff was killed in an ambulance, this is not the result
of stray bullets by mistake, this can only be by targeting ambulances.
Peter Hansen, UNRWA
Commissioner General, UN News Service, 5 April 2002
International
agencies have made repeated interventions and received assurances by Israeli
officials of safe passage for humanitarian personnel; however, the situation
has remained largely unchanged.
It serves no purpose I can see, except increasing
hatred and bitterness, to deny the civilian population access to minimum
services and assistance. By now, I do not have a count of how many times I have
written the Foreign Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Head of the
Administration of the Territories, I have written numerous letters. So far, I
do not have a response to a single one of these letters. However, we are not
giving up writing, protesting, reminding them of international law and
international obligations, and we are refusing to let the situation become so
normal that we even forget or give up writing about it.
Peter Hansen, UNRWA
Commissioner General, UN News Service, 5 April 2002
The heads
of the major international humanitarian agencies, both United Nations and
international and non-governmental organizations, including: the United Nations
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; United Nations Development
Programme, United Nations Population Fund; United Nations Children's Fund;
United Nations High Commission for Refugees; World Food Programme; World Health
Organization; International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies; the International Council on Voluntary Agencies; the Steering
Committee for Humanitarian Response; and the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East took the unprecedented step on
10 April 2002 of collectively expressing their deep dismay and outrage over the
military actions in the occupied Palestinian territory and the consequences of
such actions in exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
The durability of any future
political process between Israel and the PLO will depend, in large part, upon
the willingness and effectiveness of the international community to uphold
international law and fulfill its obligations in full as set forth in
1945 Charter of the United Nations. Regardless of whether a solution to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is negotiated between the parties or imposed
by the international community, the terms of a solution must be fully
consistent with international law and UN resolutions. While the implementation
of international law and UN resolutions cannot, in itself, guarantee a durable
solution, a solution reached outside the framework of international law and UN
resolutions will neither be just, durable or binding.
The failure to fully incorporate international law
within the Madrid/Oslo process and subsequent political and security
arrangements – i.e., Mitchell recommendations and the Tenet ceasefire plan –
has severely impeded and ultimately obstructed international efforts to
facilitate a comprehensive, just and durable solution to the conflict in the
Middle East:
First, it has provided a license for the
continued violation of fundamental human rights and humanitarian norms. As
mentioned above, Israel’s violation of fundamental human rights and
humanitarian norms has continued unabated since the beginning of the
Madrid/Oslo process. Moreover, not one single recommendation of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Commission on Human Rights special
Commission of Inquiry, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the
Occupied Territories concerning the violation of human rights after the beginning
of the al-Aqsa intifada has been implemented. Rather, Israel has
increased the lethal character of weapons – from rubber-coated metal bullets
and live ammunition, to Apache attack helicopters, Merkava tanks and F-16
fighter jets – in the occupied Palestinian territories. The majority of the
victims of Israel’s violation of fundamental human rights and humanitarian
norms are civilians.
Second, it has weakened popular
support for the political process, which is viewed as unable to defend and
guarantee respect for fundamental human rights and humanitarian norms. The
entire process of peaceful change through negotiation becomes a farce when
continued systematic violations of international law runs parallel to a process
of negotiation, particularly over a prolonged period of time. Moreover, it
becomes increasingly difficult to convince a population that it should refrain
from armed struggle, as demonstrated in many other cases of foreign occupation
and decolonization, when the primary means of peaceful change – i.e.,
negotiation – fails to being an end to or significant reduction in the
violation of fundamental human rights and humanitarian norms.
Third, it has
deprived the international community of a standard benchmark or objective
criteria by which to resolve disputes between the parties.
International law provides a ‘set of rules’ to regulate relations and
adjudicate disputes between the parties. The failure to fully and unequivocally
incorporate international law into the Madrid/Oslo process and subsequent
political and security arrangements has resulted in a process governed by a
combination of ‘anarchy’ and ‘totalitarianism.’ Existing agreements between the
PLO and Israel as well as political and security arrangements are built on the
principle of ‘constructive ambiguity.’ In order to reach an agreement
acceptable to both parties, the text of agreements and political and security
arrangements is left intentionally vague – i.e., both parties can interpret the
text according to their own interests. The problem with constructive ambiguity
arises when there is a dispute concerning implementation. The absence of a
defined set of rules – i.e., international law – results in a situation where
agreements are either not implemented or implementation is imposed upon one
party according to the balance of power. Neither result is beneficial to the
process of peacemaking and reconciliation.
Fourth, it has
tarnished the overall credibility of the system of international human rights
and humanitarian law and of the United Nations as body mandated to maintain
international peace and security. This situation is detrimental to
the victims of human rights violations and the process of strengthening the
rule of law as the basis for relations between states. How can the United
Nations be seen, let alone act, as an effective force for international peace
and security when resolutions and reports are not implemented and
recommendations go unheeded over a prolonged period of time? The lack of
effective intervention renders the international community and the United
Nations complicit in the violation of fundamental human rights and humanitarian
norms.
Recommendations – an ‘Agenda for Action”
More than 18 months ago, the UN Special Rapporteur on
Human Rights in the Occupied Territories reported to the United Nations that
there was a serious crisis of confidence in the willingness of the
international community and the United Nations to uphold the rule of law in the
Middle East. The response of the international community to Israel’s recent
military assault, which has inflicted massive death and destruction throughout
the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories has led to a situation where the
crisis of confidence has assumed proportions similar to the humanitarian
disaster that has unfolded across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
First, the international community must
immediately put in place effective mechanisms to ensure the immediate cessation
of all violations of fundamental human rights and humanitarian norms; the
immediate implementation of recommendations of UN human rights organs, General
Assembly and Security Council resolutions; long-term protection of fundamental
human rights and humanitarian norms; that all peace agreements are fully
consistent with international law and UN resolutions; and, an end to impunity.
The UN system provides for a wide variety of
mechanisms for the implementation of international law and protection of the
rights defined therein including: (1) gathering and receiving information and
complaints; (2) calling upon states to comply; (3) adjudication of disputes;
and, (4) international intervention. To date, the UN has employed the first two
mechanisms extensively, but without result. Measures must now be taken
immediately to establish effective mechanisms for international intervention
and the adjudication of ongoing disputes.
Since the beginning of Israel’s military campaign to crush the al-Aqsa
intifada local and international human rights non-governmental
organizations, UN human rights organs, the UN General Assembly, among others,
have called upon the United Nations to deploy international forces in the 1967
occupied Palestinian territories to ensure protection of fundamental human
rights of the civilian population and respect for humanitarian norms,
implementation of recommendations and resolutions of the United Nations, and
implementation of all agreements between the parties.
You
cannot go to a camp or to another exposed Palestinian habitat without hearing
anguished cries of why don't we get protection and observers, let the world see
what is going on here. The Palestinians are very keen to have in this instance
as much transparency, openness, observation as possible of the situation. But
as you know, the Israelis have denied and refused entry.
Peter Hansen, UNRWA Commissioner General, UN Dept. of
Public Information (DPI), 5 April 2002
In fact, the UN Commission on Human Rights called for the UN Security
Council to endorse Chapter VII intervention in the 1967 occupied territories to
protect Palestinians against Israel's "grave breaches" of the Fourth
Geneva Convention nearly 20 years ago (UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution
No. 1984/1, 20 February 1984). As of early April 2002, the UN Secretary General
concluded that the deployment of an international force to the occupied
territories could no longer be deferred (SG/M/8187, 4 April 2002).
The international community
must also put in place mechanisms to strengthen the rule of law and bring an end
to the culture of immunity concerning the violation of international law. UN
human rights bodies, including the local office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights in the occupied territories, should adopt procedures to ensure
that all agreements fully incorporate international law. They should also play
a central role, in cooperation with an international protection force, to
ensure respect for fundamental human rights and humanitarian norms during the
implementation of all agreements between the parties. Finally, the
international community must establish mechanisms to investigate all violations
of international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity,
prosecute individuals who are responsible for the violation of fundamental human
rights and humanitarian norms, and compensate victims of human rights
violations include damage to persons and properties. This includes the
establishment of an independent tribunal similar to those established for
prosecution of violations of international law as established by Security
Council resolutions in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Second, there must be an independent investigation of the
United Nations and individual member states concerning the serious and
protracted deficiency in international intervention to suppress “acts of
aggression or other breaches of peace” and ensure protection of the fundamental
human rights of civilians in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories and
respect for humanitarian norms. Such an
investigation should examine the root causes of this deficiency and provide
recommendations to bring the United Nations and member states into full
compliance with obligations set forth in the 1945 Charter of the United
Nations and international law.
The
sequence of events leading up to the current humanitarian and human rights
crisis calls into question the leadership of both the United Nations and that
of the United States. A review of statements by the UN Secretary General
between September 2000 and April 2002, for example, reveals an alarming lack of
reference to international law as the basis for a solution to the conflict. It
was not until March 2001 (SG/SM/7617, 29 March 2001), six months into Israel’s
military campaign to crush the Palestinian uprising and after some 400 Palestinians,
primarily civilians, had been killed by Israeli military forces that the
Secretary General spoke of Israel’s excessive use of force. The UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights had called for an end to the excessive use of
force months earlier following her visit to the region. It was not until July
2001 (SG/SM/7878, 5 July 2001) that the Secretary General chose to condemn
Israel’s policy of targeted assassinations – i.e., “death kill verification.”
Again, UN human rights bodies had called for an immediate cessation of
extra-judicial killings months earlier.
It was not until January 2002 (SG/SM/8093, 11 January 2002) that the
Secretary General condemned house demolitions as a violation of the Fourth
Geneva Convention. By this time already Israel had already demolished more
than 500 refugee shelters and damaged thousands of other shelters and homes. It
was not until March 2002 (SG/SM/8157, 12 March 2002) that the Secretary General
termed Israel’s military occupation as illegal and then when questioned about
the use of the term ‘illegal’ clarified that only “aspects of the occupation”
are illegal (SG/SM/8160/, 13 March 2002). Moreover, despite clear and concise
legal analysis contained in reports prepared by various UN human rights bodies
that unequivocally conclude that Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank,
including eastern Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip is illegal under international
humanitarian law the Secretary General stated that the issue was really more
political than legal.
The actions
of the United States within and outside the halls of the United Nations also
bring into serious doubt US commitment to the universality of fundamental human
rights, humanitarian norms and the rule of law. From the beginning of the
Madrid/Oslo process, the United States has repeatedly failed to uphold basic
principles of international law applicable to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Despite overwhelming evidence of ongoing and systematic violations of the
fundamental human rights of the civilian population of the 1967 occupied
Palestinian territories and lack of respect for humanitarian norms, the United
States has consistently sought to prevent any serious international discussion
and action to remedy the situation. Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa
intifada the United States has repeatedly blocked the UN Security Council
from taking measures to protect the civilian population in the occupied
territories and ensure respect for international law. Moreover, continued US
economic and military assistance to Israel has aided and abetted Israel’s
continued violations of international law. In the absence of effective
international intervention and an end to the climate of immunity, international
aid to Israel renders donors complicit to Israel’s systematic violation of
international law, including war crimes.
Third, an
agenda for action must also include a strong popular component similar to the
anti-apartheid movement to pressure members of the international community to
adopt policies and measures that promote and uphold fundamental human rights
and humanitarian norms as the foundation for a comprehensive, just and durable
solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This should include economic and
military sanctions by states against Israel and comprehensive consumer boycotts
and increased public awareness raising until Israel comes into full compliance
with international law. The NGO Program of Action adopted at the 3rd
World Conference Against Racism (August/September 2001) provides a clear framework,
based on international law and UN resolutions, for such a campaign.
More than
five decades of international involvement in the search for a solution to the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict have clearly demonstrated the failure of so-called
constructive engagement. Foreign investment, trade, cultural and other
relations essentially helps to bolster and maintain Israel’s illegal military
occupation and defiance of international law, including Israel’s rejection of
the basic human rights of Palestinian refugees (i.e., right of return, real
property restitution and compensation for losses and damages). So-called
constructive engagement constitutes a direct form of collaboration and
complicity to the systematic violation of international law.
The
experience of the last 18 months of Israel’s military campaign to crush
Palestinian resistance to Israel’s illegal military occupation, denial of the
right to self-determination, and rejection of Palestinian refugee rights
demonstrates that Israel’s military and political establishment is willing to
defend the special privilege and power characterized by Israel’s political
system with total violence. Investments and other direct links with Israel make
the struggle for a comprehensive, just and durable solution more difficult and
ultimately more violent. If the international community wants to ensure that
change is peaceful in the Middle East then it must provide the tools for that
struggle – i.e., respect for and full implementation of international law and
UN resolutions.