zaterdag 27 maart 2010

VN-mensenrechteraad wil onafhankelijk onderzoek naar conflict Gaza

De Mensenrechtenraad van de Verenigde Naties heeft Israel en de Palestijnse Autoriteit opgeroepen om een onafhankelijk onderzoek uit te voeren naar de dodelijke oorlog die in de winter van 2009 in Gaza werd gevoerd.

De oorlog die 3 weken duurde kostte aan meer dan 1400 mensen het leven. Er vielen meer dan 5000 gewonden. Huizen, scholen, markten en ziekenhuizen veranderden in puin.

De verklaring van de VN over de oproep:

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO GAZA CONFLICT

The United Nations Human Rights Council today, echoing the General Assembly, called on the Israeli Government and the Palestinian side to carry out independent and credible investigations into the deadly conflict in the Gaza Strip that ended early last year.


Those inquiries, the Council said in Geneva, must look into the serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law reported by the fact-finding mission into the Operation Cast Lead, the three-week Israeli military offensive starting at the end of 2008 that had the stated aim of ending rocket attacks by militants operating in the area.

The fighting left more than 1,400 people dead, injured 5,000 others and reduced homes, schools, hospitals and marketplaces to rubble.

The Goldstone Report, as it has become known, found that both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants were guilty of serious human rights violations and breaches of humanitarian law during the Gaza conflict, which began in late December 2008. The General Assembly has endorsed the mission’s findings.

The four-member fact-finding team headed by former UN war crimes prosecutor Justice Richard Goldstone, set up at the request of the Human Rights Council, called on the two sides to carry out independent investigations into their actions during the conflict.

The Human Rights Council today also called on the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, to look into setting up an escrow fund to provide reparations to Palestinians who suffered losses as a result of unlawful Israeli actions during the conflict.

It also decided to establish a committee of independent experts to monitor the independence, effective and genuineness of the investigations and their conformity with international standards.

Earlier this month, the General Assembly also appealed for independent investigations by Israel and the Palestinians, reiterating a call by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a follow-up report to the Goldstone Report that they must conform with “international standards into the serious violations of international humanitarian and international human rights law reported by the fact-finding mission, towards ensuring accountability and justice.”

During its meeting in Geneva today, the Human Rights Council also took action on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur covering the Asian nation for one year, Vitit Muntarbhorn.

(VN, 25-03-2010)

Op 25 maart nam de Mensenrechtenraad van de VN in Geneve 5 resoluties tegen Israël aan.

zaterdag 20 maart 2010

VN-chef Ban Ki-moon veroordeelt raketaanval uit Gaza op Israel

VN-secretaris-generaal Ban Ki-moon heeft een aanval met een raket vanuit de Gaza-strook op Israel scherp veroordeeld. Door de aanval vond een buitenlandse landbouwdeskundige de dood.

BAN CONDEMNS ROCKET ATTACK FROM GAZA INTO ISRAEL

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned today’s rocket attack from Gaza which killed a civilian in Israel, stressing that all acts of violence are “totally unacceptable.”

The rocket reportedly struck the Netiv Ha'assera kibbutz in southern Israel killing a foreign agricultural worker.

“All such acts of terror and violence against civilians are totally unacceptable and contrary to international law,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement issued in Moscow, where the Secretary-General will be meeting with other members of the Middle East Quartet tomorrow.

The 19 March meeting brings together the UN, the European Union, the United States and Russia, which last week called for the urgent resumption of talks between Israel and the Palestinians to resolve all outstanding issues of the conflict.

Mr. Ban has said he hopes the meeting, which comes amid rising tensions between the two sides as well as Israel’s announcement that it plans to expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory of East Jerusalem, will spur direct negotiations.

From the Russian capital, the Secretary-General is scheduled to travel to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, where he hopes to see the situation on the ground in Gaza more than a year after the end of Operation Cast Lead, the three-week Israeli military offensive conducted with the stated aim of ending rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

(VN: Mar 18 2010)

Situatie in Gaza dreigt te verslechteren door blokkade

Eerder deze maand waarschuwden functionarissen van de VN dat de situatie in Gaza verslechtert in het zicht van de 1000ste dag van de blokkade van het gebied.

AS GAZA BLOCKADE NEARS 1,000-DAY MILESTONE, UN OFFICIAL WARNS SITUATION WORSENS

The situation in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly dire as the Israeli blockade approaches its 1,000th day, allowing an illegal economy to flourish, the new head of the United Nations agency tasked with assisting millions of Palestinian refugees said today.

Filippo Grandi, the Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said that the problems faced by Gaza are not just humanitarian, but “encompass every aspect of society.”

Last March, nations gathered in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and pledged nearly $5 billion to help rebuild Gaza.

However, those funds cannot be disbursed, Mr. Grandi pointed out. “Virtually no materials or equipment destined for reconstruction by the UN and by the private sector… can be transported from Israel because we don’t have permission to do so.”

As a result, an illegal economy “is being imposed, almost, on the Gazans,” he stressed.

Cement producers he has spoken with in Gaza have expressed their unhappiness at having to deal with black marketeers. “They’re very eager to be able to go back to a normal situation where materials can be imported legally according to previous agreements and therefore proper reconstruction can begin.”

Addressing reporters in New York today, Mr. Grandi also welcomed yesterday’s announcement that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit the region in the coming weeks.

Mr. Ban, the UNRWA official said, was the first international leader who visited Gaza following the end of Operation Cast Lead, the three-week Israeli military offensive starting at the end of 2008 which had the stated aim of ending rocket attacks by militants operating in the area.

The fighting left more than 1,400 people dead, injured 5,000 others and reduced homes, schools, hospitals and marketplaces to rubble.

Mr. Grandi, who served as Deputy Commissioner General for nearly five years before assuming the top UNRWA post in January, voiced hope that the Secretary-General’s impending visit “will also mark the beginning of a new and more positive phase for the people in Gaza and hopefully for the people in the occupied Palestinian territory as a whole.”

He also expressed concern over UNRWA’s precarious financial situation.

The agency provides assistance, protection and advocacy for some 4.7 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian territory, including in the areas of education, health care, community support and emergency response in times of armed conflict.

UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from Member States.

It requires $600 million a year to carry out its work, including in the education sector, where UNRWA employs 20,000 teachers. But its funding falls 20 per cent of the amount needed.

Mr. Grandi said that he hopes to roll out new schemes shortly, including helping young refugees in Gaza, where a large proportion of the population is under the age of 20. “They’re the ones who are most fragile, most exposed to all sorts of risks,” he stressed.

He met yesterday with General Assembly President Ali Treki, who noted that after more than six decades, the question of Palestinian refugees is still awaiting a just and durable solution.

Earlier this week, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, called for “radical” changes in Israeli policies towards the occupied Palestinian territory to allow people to carry out normal and dignified lives.

“For this to happen, marginal improvements here and there are not enough,” he underscored in Jerusalem while on a visit to the region.

“I have a lot of admiration for the resilience and ingenuity of Gaza residents in trying to cope with the present circumstances,” he said. “The work of relief agencies to assist those who have to endure hardship is also remarkable.”

But he stressed that it is “disturbing” that one year after the fighting ended, “no meaningful reconstruction has yet started.”

(VN: Mar 10, 2010).