The world cheered the decision by the International Criminal Court to issue a warrant of arrest for Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes in connection with the ongoing conflict in Darfur. The warrant lists 7 criminal counts based on the Rome Statute. These are:
1. Murder (Article 7(1)(a));
2. Extermination (Article 7(1)(b));
3. Forcible Transfer (Article 7(1)(d));
4. Torture (Article 7(1)(f));
5. Rape (Article 7(1)(g));
6. Directing attacks against civilians (Article 8(2)(e)(i)); and,
7. Pillaging (Article 8(2)(e)(v)).
I always believed that what the Sudanese government and its sponsored militias were doing in Sudan is a crime against the people of Darfur. I always felt for those unfortunate civilians who were attacked, and whose homes were destroyed, villages torched down, women raped.
One of the argument Zionists and supporters always used to suppress any case or argument against Israel, was the referral to the human rights situation in Sudan, asking the rhetorical question “why is Israel always blamed while other countries can do as they wish?”
Well, I guess the ICCs decision clears the way in response to this question. So The Court’s decision to issue a warrant for the arrest of a president while in office, is a precedent. The Court, however, believes that the Rome Statute does not provide any exemption or immunity based on official capacity.
So, maybe now the Court can turn its eye to another part of the Middle East where clear violations of the Rome Statute have been committed. Israeli leaders current and past can be tried for a hell more crimes than those seven. I will try here to list my counts:
1. Article 7/1/a- Murder: There are numerous cases of murder committed by the Israeli army. The consecutive chiefs of staff, ministers of defence, and prime ministers are liable for prosecution under this article based on their direct and indirect responsibility of coordinating, designing, leading and promoting the events that led to such cases, as well as their hierarchical control of the “apparatus” of the State of Israel that implemented this crime.
2. Article 7/1/b Extermination: (as per 7/2/b) “the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population.” The responsibility of Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barack and the Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, in particular for the siege of Gaza and the prevention of urgently needed medical supplies, food and electricity which lead to over 300 deaths among Palestinians requiring medical attention.
3. Article 7/1/d Deportation or forcible transfer of population: Several cases of this crime have been committed and documented. The most notable of which are the two massive waves of transfer of population in 1948 and 1967. Currently, the Israeli Government is not fulfilling its obligations to stop the Settlers Militia from enforcing such transfers. The village of Yanoun in the centre of the West Bank is one example of forced transfer. Tana village, with supreme court support is due for demolition by the State of Israel.
4. Article 7/1/e Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law: There are over 10,000 prisoners in Israeli Prisons. Many of them sit there on Administrative Detention which is renewed endlessly. Many others are serving absurdly high sentences reaching for some over 1200 years (yes, one thousand two hundred years).
5. Article 7/1/f Torture: Israeli Supreme Court (of Justice?) has made several rulings allowing the Shin Bet to exercise torture against Palestinian prisoners. The Shin Bet is the Government’s National Security Agency, it falls under the authority of the Prime Minister
6. Article 7/1/h Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court.
7. Article 7/1/j The crime of apartheid: (As per 7/2/h) ‘The crime of apartheid’ means inhumane acts of a character similar to those [mentioned above], committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.
8. Article 7/1/k Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
9. Article 8/2/a/i Wilful Killing. Several documented cases of wilful killing can be raised under this article. Many of those gained international fame such as the case of the assassination of Salah Shehada.
10. Article 8/2/a/ii Torture and Inhumane treatment. Several documented cases most notably the actions of Israeli army on roadblocks across the West Bank.
11. Article 8/2/a/iii Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
12. Article 8/2/a/ iv Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. Many such cases exist. In the early fifties Israel transferred the ownership of millions of dunnums of land to the KKL/JNF. These lands were owned by Palestinian refugees, by the transfer Israel ensured that these lands will only be used by Jews as KKL regulations forbid selling property to non-Jews.
13. Article 8/2/a/vi Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;
14. Article 8/2/a/vii Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;
15. Article 8/2/b/i Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities;
16. Article 8/2/b/i Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives;
17. Article 8/2/b/iii Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict;
18. Article 8/2/b/iv Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated;
19. Article 8/2/b/v Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives;
20. Article 8/2/b/viii The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory;
21. Article 8/2/b/ix Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives;
22. Article 8/2/b/xvi Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault;
23. Article 8/2/b/xix Employing bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely cover the core or is pierced with incisions;
24. Article 8/2/b/xx Employing weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of the international law of armed conflict, provided that such weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare are the subject of a comprehensive prohibition and are included in an annex to this Statute, by an amendment in accordance with the relevant provisions set forth in articles 121 and 123;
25. Article 8/2/b/xxi Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
26. Article 8/2/b/xxiii Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations;
27. Article 8/2/b/xxiv Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law;
28. Article 8/2/b/xxv Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions;
So Twenty eight counts. Of course these have been committed by various Israeli politicians since the establishment of the state, but I am sure current politicians have a criminal responsibility over many of these. The only problem we have is that no one will file a case on behalf of the Palestinians. The double standards that plague international organisations will necessarily mean that the ICC prosecutor will not file a case on his own as he did in the case of AlBashir.
I am sure with some research all of these crimes can be documented and presented as a complete case. Maybe, just maybe, at one point we would be able to launch such a suit.
10 comments:
Ned,I posted this in another blog too (http://1humanity.blogspot.com/2009/03/sudans-president-indicted-for-war.html)
"On January 22 2009, over 400 non-governmental organisations from all over the world, represented by a team of 40 lawyers, registered an official condemnation to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), concerning Israel's aggression against the people of Gaza between December 27 2008 and January 18 2009." The report comes from a statement issued by French lawyer, Gilles Devers, representative of the NGOs to the Court in the Hague and who will be in Italy on Monday to present the initiative.
http://www.ansamed.info/en/israel/news/ME01.@AM69530.html
Btw, glad to have you here again.
Take care.
Thank you Nindee, It is nice to see you picked up the same point. I think I should expect Bar Kochba to jump here any moment, eh?
Ned, I'm right on time, I suppose.
Let's take a look at these supposed war crimes.
1) Murder- Israel was fighting a war against a terrorist organization in Gaza. Civilian casualties were amplified since Hamas hides among civilian targets, although Israel when to pains to avoid them. The real war criminals are the Hamas terrorists who have murdered hundreds of Jews in the past decades, and have deliberately targeted civilians, schools, homes, day cares, hospitals and synagogues in Sderot and Southern Israel.
2) Such libel need not be refuted. Israel, against any common sense, has allowed food and supplies into the Gaza Strip, although this has only armed its enemies. Killing 700 terrorists out of total of 1000 casualties is hardly extermination- its precision.
3) Deportation- Hundreds of thousands of Arabs fled in 1948 and 1967 at the behest of invading Arab armies who promised them that they would go back once the Jews had been killed. At the same time, close to a million Sephardic Jews were expelled from Arab lands, losing billions of dollars and property. Israel took them in and they no longer live in camps. There is no such thing as a 60 year old refugee. Stop whining and get on with your lives. With the billions of dollars of aid that the US, EU and UN have poured in, why are there no results when every other refugee problem in the world has been solved?
And there is nothing in international law that prohibits Jews from voluntarily moving to Judea and Samaria. The law prohibits a forcible transfer of civilians yet the Jews of Judea and Samaria chose freely to live in their ancient homeland. Why can a million Arabs live in Israel buy Judea and Samaria must be judenrein?
4) Imprisonment and torture- Israel inherited and continued certain laws adopted by the British. One is the use of administrative detention, which is permitted under certain circumstances in security cases. The detainee is entitled to be represented by counsel, and may appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court. The burden is on the prosecution to justify holding closed proceedings. Often, officials believe presenting evidence in open court would compromise its methods of gathering intelligence and endanger the lives of individuals who have provided information about planned terrorist activities.
Administrative detention is not necessary in much of the Arab world because the authorities frequently arrest people and throw them in jail without due process. No lawyers, human rights organizations or independent media can protest. Even in the United States, with its exceptionally liberal bail policy, people may be held for extended periods awaiting trial, and special legal standards have .been applied to allow the prolonged incarceration of Taliban and al-Qaida members captured in Afghanistan.
Prison is not a pleasant place for anyone and complaints about the treatment of prisoners in American institutions abound. Israel's prisons are probably among the most closely scrutinized in the world. One reason is the government has allowed representatives of the Red Cross and other groups to inspect them regularly.
Israeli law prohibits arbitrary arrest of citizens, defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty and have the right to writs of habeas corpus and other procedural safeguards. Israel holds no political prisoners and maintains an independent judiciary.
Some prisoners, particularly Arabs suspected of involvement in terrorism, were interrogated using severe methods that have been criticized as excessive. Israel's Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in 1999 prohibiting the use of a variety of abusive practices.
The death penalty has been applied just once, in the case of Adolf Eichmann, the man largely responsible for the "Final Solution." No Arab has ever been given the death penalty, even after the most heinous acts of terrorism.
5) Discrimination and apartheid- Israel's Declaration of Independence guarantees freedom and equal rights to all of its citizens, regardless of race, religion, gender, etc. Israel has a million Arab citizens, who enjoy more benefits than any of their brethren in Arab countries. 10% of the Israel Knesset is Arab. Hardly apartheid.
In the early part of the century, the Jewish National Fund was established by the World Zionist Congress to purchase land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF was created to empower Jews and buy land for them to settle on. This land, and that acquired after Israel's War of Independence, was taken over by the government. Of the total area of Israel, 92 percent belongs to the State and is managed by the Land Management Authority. It is not for sale to anyone, Jew or Arab. The remaining 8 percent of the territory is privately owned. The Arab Waqf (the Muslim charitable endowment), for example, owns land that is for the express use and benefit of Muslim Arabs. Government land can be leased by anyone, regardless of race, religion or sex. All Arab citizens of Israel are eligible to lease government land.
Have you no shame in repeating false blood libels? Why don't you take a look at the crimes of the Arabs such as electing a terrorist organization, with an openly genocidal goal, that has carries out hundreds of murderous attacks and homicide bombings against Jewish targets. The 8000 rockets on Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod and the south are war crimes- not Israel defending herself.
Ah, BK, you're really overexaggerating here. Must you and other zionists always see yourselves as victims?
Ned, here's a fine article by Anthony Lerman, the former director of Institute for Jewish Policy Research. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/must-jews-always-see-themselves-as-victims-1639277.html
Something worth to read to understand Bar Kochba's blind support for Israel.
YA: Israel withdrew its 10 000 citizens from Gaza in summer 2005. It left behind greenhouses and poured billions of dollars into the Arab economy. Instead of peace, it got rockets. The Arabs chose Hamas and not the olive branch. Hamas has been holding Gilad Shalit hostage for almost 3 years now, refusing him Red Cross visitation and torturing his family with the uncertainty. Hamas' charter spells out its genocidal goals against the Jewish people and it has carried this out in the form of 8 000 rockets on civilians and hundreds of suicide bombings and murderous attacks against Jews. If the Arabs of Gaza wanted peace, they could have had peace. There has been no "Occupation" since 2005, not so much as a Jew in Gaza (with the exception of Shalit, still captive). The Arabs of Gaza have made their bed and now they must sleep in it.
The British did not supply the Germans with food during the blitz. Only Israel is expected to turn the other cheek and die peacefully. Never! Until Shalit is freed, Hamas dismantled and the attacks stop, Israel is under no obligation to give the Gazans anything. Gaza shares a border with Egypt. Why is nobody up in arms that Egypt is not feeding them? Only Israel is criticized and vilified for not arming and feeding its enemies.
Nindee, you never address any of my points or present facts because your claims are based on nothing, lies and slander. My support for Israel is not blind or fanatical. I have learned from history that if Jews do not stand up for themselves, nobody will. Calling me a bigot or genocidal is pure libel because it is easier to defame than to debate. I do not hate Arabs and I do not want Arabs to die. I want Jews to live. I wish the Arabs much success and prosperity in their 22 countries but I do not see why I should allow my land to be carved up and divided, or why I should accept being told where I should or should not live. Israel belongs to the Jews. The sooner the Arabs accept that, the sooner there will be peace.
BK, I never address any of your points of present propaganda because:
1. I have problem with expressing my case using English. If you understand indonesian then i'd be glad to answer you.
2. Same as YA, I get tired with your copy-pasted arguments and hatreds.
We're trying to find some common sense and humanity here but you always act so...nevermind.
And yes, I'm an Occupation-Basher.
Oh Dear Bar Kochba, I was missing you. You always impress me with your arguments, sometimes i stand there wanting to say your same words. "I do not see why I should allow my land to be carved up and divided, or why I should accept being told where I should or should not live." I could not choose better words.
I will not argue about the murders, because when you kill someone it is murder. that's the end of it. You also seem to have gotten your numbers all wrong! reducing the number of deaths in Gaza from 1300 to 1000, and increasing the number of military casualties from 400 to 700. I don't see the precision in that.
You also seem to have a great confusion of terms when you discuss the "legal" and the "just". Of course everything Israel does is legal under Israeli law. Just as the Apartheid was legal, just as the final solution was legal. so please spare us the discussion about the legality of israel's actions and 'justice' system.
Please, again, chose which side you are at. If you are with the good guys, why do you keep comparing Israel to the bad guys? You don't see me praising what the saudis or syrians, so why do you keep comparing israel's actions to those of such countries?
And regarding the refugees, if you, the jewish people, so it fit that after 2000 years of being refugees among the goyim to come back to "your land", why is it wrong for those who lived in this land just 60 years ago to go back? I don't see the logic. and if you justify Israel's crimes by saying that "if Jews do not stand up for themselves, nobody will." then why do you deny the same right to Hamas? Because it is also true that if Palestinians do not stand up for themselves, nobody will. That's what we call blind support. open your eyes here, no body is interested in killing you or anyone else. If more Israelis see the err in their ways, and try for once to put themselves in the shoes of a Palestinian, we would not have arrived here (of course this goes both ways).
ah one last thing. You can't decide how strongly palestinians feel for this stretch of land, just as i cant decide the same for israelis sense of belonging. My reckoning is that we both see this country as ours. you can't tell a villager from teeret el carmel or beit ur that they can find refuge in another of the 22 arab coutnries, because none of the other countries is his, this one is. Sixty-one year wont change that, just as 2000 didnt do for the jews.
Greetings. The problem is that we are using a religious text to determine political boundaries (the Bible). That's the mistake there. But if we must use the Bible, I thought it was written that Abram moved from Ur to eventually settle in Canaan. He arrived in the area; didn't make it himself - this is where Martin King referenced "I've been to the mountaintop" speech - but he sent scouts out. The scouts reported back and among other things - they saw men tall as trees walking; they saw the "land of milk and honey." There were inhabitants living in "Canaan" already before Abraham (after his name was changed) and his nation, with Moses leading, arrived. And not the nicest of arrivals either.
The Bible is a religious text; a collection of myth, legends and some history. It is dangerous to use it or any any religious text to inform and dictate political policy. If we believe that "God" gave any land to any group of people, then we have to believe that Jesus walked on the water; that Moses spoke to a burning bush; that Jacob wrestled with the angel of God; that God created the world in 6 days. All or nothing applies here. In closing, Jerusalem should have been made into a special, non-national territory, with special international status, which was originally proposed by UN Mediator F. Bernadotte. Unfortunately, he was assassinated by the nationalist terrorist group "Lehi" (Prime Minister Shamir was a leader of this group). I had a job offer at the Quaker school in Jerusalem and would have loved to go BUT all of this nonsense is carrying on... I lived in that part of the world at any rate. Keep fighting until everyone is dead - or share the land. One or the other. No-one is correct here, unless everyone is correct.
Hey, I studied and taught at the Quakers School :)
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