By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
JERUSALEM, Israel – On August 5 the international human rights watch dog Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report that condemns the Palestinian Organization Hamas for rocket attacks that occurred predominantly between November 2008 and January 2009.
The report accuses Hamas, as the ruling organization of Gaza, of war crimes for these rocket attacks. The report also implicates other militant groups in Palestinian territories. However, HRW states that, as the governing group in Gaza, Hamas is responsible both for the attacks that it carried out, and for the attacks of other groups which could have been prevented by Hamas. Hamas has previously used its influence to stop rocket attacks by other groups in Palestinian territories.
The rockets used in the attack were made in Gaza with simple materials like pipes and fertilizer. Due the home-made nature of the rockets, they are nearly impossible to aim with accuracy. Using a rocket that is more likely to inadvertently harm citizens is more likely to violate the Geneva Conventions ban on the use of indiscriminate weapons.
The rocket attacks violate the first additional protocol to the 1977 Geneva Convention (Protocol I), and the 1907 Hague Regulations, as the attacks intentionally or indiscriminately targeted civilians. According to HRW, these laws apply to non-governmental groups like Hamas, just as the rules apply to other nations. Intentionally targeting civilians is prohibited by both of these covenants, as well as general human rights principles. The 1977 Geneva Convention Protocol I Article 48 requires militants to distinguish combatants from civilians, and to avoid civilians while targeting only military objectives and other combatants if possible. Civilians can lose their immunity but only for the time which they participate directly in the hostilities.
The rockets unlawfully struck populated areas up to 40 kilometers inside Israel, placing roughly 800,000 Israeli civilians at risk. Rockets that fell short of their intended targets in Israel killed two girls and wounded others in Gaza during this period. Palestinian armed groups that launched rockets from densely populated areas also unlawfully put Gazan civilians at risk of Israeli counterstrikes.
“Hamas forces violated the laws of war both by firing rockets deliberately and indiscriminately at Israeli cities and by launching them from populated areas and endangering Gazan civilians,” HRW Program Director Iain Levine said.
HRW recognizes the much larger number of Palestinian casualties because of Israeli attack. However, they emphasize that one human rights e violation or war crime, does not justify another for retaliation.
HRW recommends that all such rocket attacks being conducted by Hamas should be stopped, and Hamas should prevent other organizations from continuing the attack. Additionally, Hamas should publicly denounce the attacks and conduct an investigation on the attacks, and stop perpetrating the acts from densely populated areas in Gaza which thereby put Palestinian civilians at greater risk.
For more information, please see:
Haaretz – Human Rights Watch slams Hamas rocket fire as war crime – 9 August 2009
AFP – Hamas Rockets a War Crime: Human Rights Watch – 6 August 2009
Human Rights Watch – Gaza/ Israel: Hamas Rocket Attacks on Civilians Unlawful – 6 August 2009
VOA News – Human Rights Watch Says Hamas Rocket Attacks are War Crime – 6 August 2009
Human Rights Watch – Rockets from Gaza Harm to Civilians from Palestinian Armed Groups’ Rocket Attacks – 5 August 2009
