UK Aid Groups: Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

UK Aid Groups: Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

LONDON, United Kingdom – On March 6, a coalition of eight UK humanitarian and human rights groups released a report detailing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.   Amnesty International Oxfam, CARE International UK, and other groups prepared the report, titled “The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion.”  The groups claimed that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is the worst since 1967, when the Israel occupation began.

The report criticizes Israel’s blockade as collective punishment and therefore illegal under international law.  Also, it states that the recent blockade has resulted in higher rates of poverty, unemployment, and threatens Gaza’s internal infrastructure.

According to the report, over 80 percent of 1.5 million Gaza residents rely on humanitarian aid and nearly 1.1 million are dependent on food aid.  In addition, nearly 40 percent of Gazans are unemployed and by the end of the year, unemployment will reach 50 percent.  In the past six months 3,500 of the 3,900 factories in Gaza have closed, which resulted in the loss of 75,000 of the 110,000 jobs in the private sector.

The increase in poverty and unemployment are just two problems highlighted in the  report.  Other concerns include: hospital power outages; inability to deliver humanitarian aid, including cooking fuel and food; failing water and sewage treatment systems; failing schools; and restriction of movement.

While the report recognizes that “Israel has the right and obligation to protect its citizens,” it claims that Israel’s blockade has been ineffective in securing its country and imposes collective punishment on the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in Gaza.  Amnesty UK Director Kate Allen stated that “punishing the entire Gazan population by denying them these basic human rights is utterly indefensible.”

Also, the groups argue that the Israeli blockade and the international embargo against Gaza is detrimental to the peace process.  The report quotes Karen Konig Abu Zayd, the head of the UN Relief Works Agency, as saying that “hungry, unhealthy, angry communities do not make good partners for peace.”

The Chief Executive of CARE International UK, Geoffrey Dennis, said “unless the blockade ends now, it will be impossible to pull Gaza back from the brink of this disaster and any hopes for peace in the region will be dashed.”

In addition, the report urges “UK government and EU to abandon the failing policy of non-engagement and begin political dialogue with all Palestinian parties,” including Hamas.  Daleep Mukarji of Chistian Aid stated that “Gaza cannot become a partner for peace unless Israel, Fatah and the Quartet engage with Hamas and give the people of Gaza a future.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded to the report by saying that it was misdirected.  Instead of placing the blame on Israel, Major Peter Lerner, an Israeli spokesman, stated that “the main responsibility for events in Gaza… is the Hamas organization, to which all complaints should be addressed.”

Ha’aretz reports that NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based watchdog, “called on human rights groups to end what it called their political use of international law.”  NGO Monitor claims that an Amnesty press release made “unsubstantiated accusations” that the Israeli military acted “with reckless disregard for civilian life.”

Gerald Steinberg, the Executive Director of NGO Monitor, said: “NGOs and human rights groups must end their irresponsible and immoral use of legal rhetoric.  False claims of disproportionate force and collective punishment by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch make a mockery of international law.”

For the report, please see:
The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion

For more information, please see:
BBC – Gaza Situation “Worst Since 1967” – 6 March 2008

The Daily Star – British Aid Groups Sound Alarm for Gaza, Urge Engagement with Hamas – 6 March 2008

The Guardian – Sanctions Causing Gaza to Implode, Say Rights Groups – 6 March 2008

Ha’aretz – Rights Groups: Gaza Humanitarian Situation Worst Since 1967 – 6 March 2008

Telegraph – Human Crisis in Gaza “is Worst for 40 Years” – 6 March 2008

Yedioth – Amnesty: Situation in Gaza Worst Since 1967 – 6 March 2008

BRIEF: Gunman Kills Seminary Students in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM, Israel – On March 6, a gunman infiltrated the Mercaz Harav yeshiva, a Jewish seminary, in Western Jerusalem and opened fire.  A witness stated that he heard both single and automatic gunfire, which lasted for about ten minutes.  Eli Dein, the director of Israel’s rescue service, said “there are at least seven killed and 10 people wounded.”  Paramedics said that some of them are in serious-to-critical condition.

Yitzhak Dadon, a student, stated that he waited on the roof of a nearby building and was armed with a rifle.  Dadon said that the gunman “came out of the library spraying automatic fire” and when “the terrorist came to the entrance and I shot him twice in the head.”

Initially there was some confusion surrounding the facts of the incident.  Jerusalem police commander Aharon Franco corrected initial reports claiming that there were two gunmen.  Shmuel Ben Ruby, a police spokesman, stated that it appeared that the gunman was wearing an explosives vest.  However, the vest was a belt was holding extra ammunition.

Yedioth News reports that the Galilee Freedom Brigades, an Israeli-Arab group, claimed responsibility for the attack.  Israeli media reports that the gunman was a resident of East Jerusalem.

In addition, after hearing news of the attack, Gazan residents fired rifles in celebration.  Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official, called the operation “heroic” and stated that it was “a natural reaction to the Zionist massacre.”


For more information, please see:
The Associated Press – Jerusalem Seminary Attacked, 7 Dead – 6 March 2008

BBC – Gunmen Kill Eight at Israel School – 6 March 2008

Reuters – Palestinian Gunmen Kill 8 in Jerusalem Jewish School – 6 March 2008

Yedioth News – 8 Killed in Jerusalem Terror Attack – 6 March 2008

BRIEF: Human Rights Watch Reports on Sri Lankan Disappearances

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka- Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report today detailing the Sri Lankan government’s responsibility for widespread abductions and disappearances.  The report follows government actions taken since the civil war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resumed in 2006.

The government has been accused of taking people into custody and then not disclosing their whereabouts or denying that they are holding them all together, a violation under both the Sri Lankan constitution and international law.  Most of these people are ethnic Tamils, although some are Muslims and Sinhalese.  They are abducted because of their possible involvement with the LTTE.

The government denies that their security forces are involved in abductions, and does not believe there is a national crisis.  They have created bodies to investigate possible disappearances, but HRW has found that these bodies are shams and have not reached any real results.

The HRW report documents 99 of several hundred reported cases.  Four of those cases are outlined on HRW’s website here.

According to HRW, “President Mahinda Rajapaksa, once a rights advocate, has now led his government to become one of the world’s worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances.  The end of the ceasefire means this crisis will continue until the government starts taking serious measures.”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch News – Sri Lanka: ‘Disappearances’ by Security Forces a National Crisis – 6 March 2008

Human Rights Watch Publications – Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka – March 2008

BRIEF: Human Rights Watch Reports on Sri Lankan Disappearances

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka- Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report today detailing the Sri Lankan government’s responsibility for widespread abductions and disappearances.  The report follows government actions taken since the civil war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resumed in 2006.

The government has been accused of taking people into custody and then not disclosing their whereabouts or denying that they are holding them all together, a violation under both the Sri Lankan constitution and international law.  Most of these people are ethnic Tamils, although some are Muslims and Sinhalese.  They are abducted because of their possible involvement with the LTTE.

The government denies that their security forces are involved in abductions, and does not believe there is a national crisis.  They have created bodies to investigate possible disappearances, but HRW has found that these bodies are shams and have not reached any real results.

The HRW report documents 99 of several hundred reported cases.  Four of those cases are outlined on HRW’s website here.

According to HRW, “President Mahinda Rajapaksa, once a rights advocate, has now led his government to become one of the world’s worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances.  The end of the ceasefire means this crisis will continue until the government starts taking serious measures.”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch News – Sri Lanka: ‘Disappearances’ by Security Forces a National Crisis – 6 March 2008

Human Rights Watch Publications – Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka – March 2008

Security tightened in Beijing ahead of China’s 11th National People’s Congress (NPC)

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Hundreds of thousands of police, security guards and volunteers patrolled Beijing to usher in China’s annual session of parliament.  Under China’s Constitution, the NPC is China’s highest law-making body. More than 2,000 delegates from across the country are in Beijing to attend the NPC.  The country’s 55 minority groups are all represented, as are the armed forces.  Delegates also come from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.  It provides delegates with a chance to pass on their views.  But because all power rests with the Chinese Communist Party, NPC delegates will merely approve party decisions.

Petitioners often come to Beijing during NPC, looking for a chance to let officials know about their particular grievances. But they are usually harassed and detained by security officials.  Petitioners told Radio Free Asia’s Mandarin service that authorities in the Chinese capital have detained around 1,000 people with grievances against the government ahead of the country’s annual parliament.

Huang Caipiao, a shrimp farmer seeking compensation for business losses following his forced eviction, has made 15 petitioning trips to the capital, yielding nothing but a year in jail. He tried to petition the Supreme Court, but was intercepted by Beijing police as he headed towards the national prosecution service.

Shanghai resident Cai Zhengrong, who has been trying to get compensation after his house was demolished to make way for luxury apartments, was detained shortly after arriving in Beijing to petition the central government, he told Reuters.  These stories are becoming increasingly familiar across China as local officials and big business cash in on soaring land values, pushing rural families from the land with little or no compensation.

Around 1,200 petitioners wrote an open letter to the NPC calling for greater recognition of the rights violations they had suffered at the hands of officials.  While government Web sites have invited Internet users to air their grievances, authorities have taken great measures to ensure their complaints are not delivered to NPC delegates in person.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Main issues at China’s parliament – 04 March 2008.

Radio Free Asia – China Detains 1,000 Petitioners Ahead of Parliament – 04 March 2008.

Washington Post – China muzzles capital ahead of annual parliament – 02 March 2008.