Gaza: Ensure justice and accountability

Young palestinians in front of destroyed buildings, Gaza, 1 January 2009 © Sharif Sarhan January 2013 marks the third anniversary of the end of the conflict - nicknamed Operation 'Cast Lead' - in Gaza and southern Israel.

Despite a UN Fact Finding Mission Report documenting war crimes and other serious human rights violations committed by both sides in the 22-day conflict, the victims have yet to receive justice or reparations.

The Israeli authorities, as well as the international community, have failed to conduct independent investigations into alleged war crimes by Israeli forces.

We have been calling the United Nations Human Rights Council to take concrete measures to ensure an international justice solution for the victims.

Read about Gaza in our 2012 Annual Report

International Criminal Court decision may deny justice to victims

On 3 April 2012 the office of the International Criminal Court prosecutor said that it cannot consider allegations of crimes committed during the conflict unless the relevant UN bodies or countries determine that the Palestinian Authority is a state.

This is a dangerous decision that is likely to deny justice to both Palestinian and Israeli victims of human rights abuses. It opens the ICC to accusations of political bias and is inconsistent with the independence of the ICC. Read our full response

Background

September 2009

A United Nations Fact-Finding Mission issued a report (The Goldstone Report) setting out evidence that both sides committed war crimes and other serious violations of international law. The report noted that there were no credible efforts by either the Government of Israel or the Palestinian authorities to ensure that the crimes are investigated, that those responsible for the crimes are prosecuted or to provide reparations to the victims.

The report called on the United Nations to give both sides three months to address the issue. If they failed to do so, it recommended that the United Nations Security Council refer the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC). It also recommended that other states exercise universal jurisdiction over the crimes.

On 5 November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the report's recommendations. Since then, however, little progress has been made and at a meeting in September 2010 the United Nations once again failed to insist on an international justice solution. Read the full background (word)

April 2011

The UN Human Rights Council called for the issue of accountability for war crimes committed during the 2008-2009 Gaza conflict to be referred to the International Criminal Court.

This is a considerable success and is in no small part down to your campaigning - over 109,000 people signed our petition calling on the Council to act to ensure international justice for victims of the conflict. Many of you also helped us lobby the UK government by raising the issue with your MP.

We will continue to work on this issue until all the victims of the conflict get the justice they deserve and those found responsible for grave violations are held to account.

The details

At its meeting in March, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution urging the UN General Assembly to call on the UN Security Council to refer the issue of accountability to the International Criminal Court.

While this is good news, the resolution was flawed in some respects and it is further weakened by the lack of consensus: 27 states voted in favour; three against (including the UK); and 16 abstained. This may make the Security Council less likely to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.

However, if the judges of the International Criminal Court's Pre-Trial Chamber were to determine that the Court could act on a declaration issued by the Palestinian Authority in 2009 then they would not need a referral in order to open an investigation. As such, we are urging the Court's Prosecutor to seek this determination as soon as possible.

Read our full response to the Resolution on amnesty.org

More news

In a cynical attempt to avoid accountability for war crimes, the Israeli government is calling for the UN to retract the report of its UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (The Goldstone Report). Read more

September 2011

As the annual session of the UN General Assembly got underway, we joined forces with five other human rights organisations to call on UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Vice President of the European Commission Baroness Ashton to support the recommendation of the Human Rights Council. We urge them to act decisively to pursue accountability, and uphold victims' rights by ensuring that this issue is addressed at the UN Security Council.

Palmer report

Together with other NGOs we wrote a letter responding to the UN Palmer report. The report looks at Israel's response to a Turkish-led aid flotilla which tried to reach Gaza in May 2010 and the continued blockade of Gaza.

The letter, addressed to international community leaders, calls on them to ensure that the report's claim that the naval blockade of Gaza is lawful is not misunderstood to mean the entire closure of Gaza is legal. The letter also calls on them to step up efforts to ensure an immediate and unconditional lifting of the closure.