Update: Continuing International Condemnation Over Israeli Flotilla Raid

Protests Against Israeli Flotilla Raids in New York, Paris, and London (Photo Courtesy of Al-Ahram Weekly)
Protests Against Israeli Flotilla Raids in New York, Paris, and London (Photo Courtesy of Al-Ahram Weekly)

By Warren Popp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

International condemnation has grown in the days following the raid on 31 May of a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid headed toward Gaza, which Israeli forces commandeered in international waters. During the incident, seven Israeli soldiers were severely injured when activists on the ship allegedly attacked Israeli commandos with knives, Molotov cocktails, clubs, iron bars, and even pistols from the injured Israeli soldiers as they descended upon the ship, and nine activists were allegedly shot and killed by Israeli forces either as they descended and/or from commandos in the helicopter above and in nearby boats.

The United Nations Security Council acted in emergency session and called for independent investigation into the incident. The Human Rights Council also took action in a special sitting call for by Arab and Islamic states and passed a resolution that sets up an independent investigation and calls for an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

While Israel has rejected a demand for any international investigation, they reportedly embraced a U.S. proposal on Thursday for an Israeli inquiry that would include the participation of outside observers.

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other World leaders have joined countries throughout the World in condemning Israeli action in the incident and demanding that the blockade of Gaza be lifted. Mr. Ban noted that this tragedy highlights the underlying problem of the siege of Gaza, stating that the siege was “counter-productive, unsustainable, and wrong.”

While the U.S. took an active role in preventing any direct criticism of Israel in the language of the Security Council Resolution, there are also signs that the incident may be altering the U.S. position towards the U.S. support of the Gaza blockade. The New York Times reports that according to U.S. officials, the international pressure from the incident “create[s] a new opportunity to push for increased engagement with the Palestinian Authority and a less harsh policy toward Gaza”; that the Administration considers Israel’s blockade of Gaza to be untenable; and that they will press for alternative approach’s that will ensure Israel’s security while still allowing more supplies into the impoverished Palestinian area.

People Mourning the death of the flotilla activists in Turkey (Photo Courtesy of the AP)
Mourning the death of the flotilla activists in Turkey (Photo Courtesy of the AP)

Turkey immediately responded to the incident by recalling its ambassador to Israel and canceling joint military exercises. Turkey’s President stated, “Turkey will never forgive Israel for the killing of Turkish citizens.” However, since the release of nearly all of the detained activists, tensions between Israel and Turkey have eased: The Turkish foreign minister said, “It was time that calm replaces anger.”

Due to diplomatic and political considerations, Israel decided not to prosecute dozens of the detained activists, including many who Israel claimed were linked to terrorist groups, including Al-Qaeda, and many who allegedly attacked the Israeli commandos when they descended on the ships.

According to the Associated Press, Israeli Cabinet Minister Isaac Herzog said the release of the activists was an effort, “to take full control of this crisis management and move forward.”

The incident also led to other notable responses by states, including: South Africa temporarily recalling its Ambassador to Israel; Nicaragua severing all diplomatic ties with Israel; Sweden summoning Israel’s ambassador to demand an explanation of the incident; Great Britain calling for an end to the to the blockade; and perhaps most notable the response by Egypt.  Egypt, which kept its border crossing with Gaza closed even during the 2008 Israeli invasion of Gaza, responded to the latest incident by at least temporarily opening the border for humanitarian purposes.

The Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor has responded to some of the criticism by stating, “Those who criticize Israel would be better advised to turn their criticism against the terror-supporting rioters from the flotilla, who have nothing to do with humaneness.”

Israel appears to be focusing on its own allegations that the Turkish charity participating in the flotilla mission, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), to terrorist groups. This characterization is in especially stark contrast to the stated adherence to “the principles of nonviolence and nonviolent resistance in word and deed at all times” that is a stated principle and practice of the Free Gaza Movement, the principle organizer of the flotilla, as well as to the professed peaceful and humanitarian nature of the flotilla’s mission in general.

Israeli Navy personnel board one of the ships of the flotilla (Photo Courtesy of Getty Images)
Israeli Navy personnel board one of the ships of the flotilla (Photo Courtesy of Getty Images)

Israel Remains Committed to Defending its Actions during the Flotilla Incident

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused world leaders for holding Israel to a double standard in regards to Israel’s actions in the interception of a flotilla of ships on May 31 that was purportedly on a humanitarian mission, stating, “Once again, Israel faces hypocrisy and a biased rush to judgment.”

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have repeatedly justified the actions by the Israeli commandos as acts of self-defense, have claimed that the interception of the flotilla in international waters was permitted by international law, and have stated that it is vital for Israel’s security that they continue to enforce the Gaza blockade.

Israel claims that the lives of the Israeli commandos who descended upon the ships were immediately threatened by passengers on the ships that were armed with knives, Molotov cocktails, clubs, and iron bars, and that they were further threatened as the activists took pistols from the injured soldiers, and even threw one injured soldier down to a lower deck of the ship. Israel claims that the soldiers used force only after their lives were clearly threatened as acts of self-defense.

Netanyahu claimed, “The international community cannot afford an Iranian port on the Mediterranean … The same countries that are criticising us today, should know that they could be targeted tomorrow.” He further states, “Opening a naval route to Gaza will present enormous danger to the security of our citizens”.

Israel claims that if any significant amount of cement and steel were allowed into Gaza without restrictions it would end up in missiles and other weapons that would be used against Israel. (It should be noted that Israel now claims that cement was not found on the ship as initially alleged; however, the Free Gaza ship that is currently in route to Gaza is purported to have 550 tons of concrete.)

However, it appears that Netanyahu is willing to consider easing the naval blockade on Gaza, as well as other creative solutions for monitoring the goods that are allowed to enter the Hamas-ruled territory. The New York Times reported that Netanyahu proposed to Tony Blair, the international envoy of the ‘quartet of Middle East peacemakers’, that an international naval force inspect future aid shipments bound for Gaza.

Amos Gilad, a senior defense official, reportedly said in an interview that in Gaza, “we only have bad solutions, worse solutions and worst solutions”: “Hamas is a terrorist organization sworn to Israel’s destruction. We, on the contrary, are facilitating them to bring in all kinds of food, materials; they are even exporting strawberries and flowers.”

The Most Recent Developments in the Flotilla Incident:

The Hamas minister of social affairs, Ahmad al-Kurd, accused Israel of not delivering all of the supplies from the seized flotilla, including batteries for wheelchairs and cement, and has said that he won’t accept the aid from the flotilla until Israel provides everything that was confiscated and all detainees were released.

Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire (second from left) aboard the MV Rachel Corrie (Photo Courtesy of AFP)
Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire (second from left) aboard the MV Rachel Corrie (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

Another ship from the Fee Gaza movement, the MV Rachel Corrie, which was unable to join the ships in most recent flotilla due to mechanical problems, has been boarded without incident by Israeli forces.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly distinguished the latest incident between the boat filled with Irish and Malaysian activists of the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish-sponsored activists that was intercepted May 31 in an incident that left nine dead and scores wounded: “The different outcome we saw today underscores the difference between peace activists who we disagree with but respect their right to express their different opinion and flotilla participants who were violent extremist supporters of terrorists.”

In response, the Free Gaza Movement said, “we’d like to remind Mr. Netanyahu that the only hate evidenced on board all six boats on Monday morning came from the Israeli attackers.”

For more information, please see:

Jerusalem Post – Navy Boards, Takes Control of ‘Rachel Corrie’ Off Gaza Coast – 5 June 2010

NY Times – Second Set of Activists Steams Toward Gaza – 4 June 2010

Al Ahram Weekly – Death on the High Seas – 3 June 2010

Al Jazeera – S. Africa Recalls Israeli Ambassador – 3 June 2010

Al Jazeera – Turkey will “never forgive” Israel – 3 June 2010

AP – Israel Trying to Limit Diplomatic Damage From Raid – June 3, 2010

Haaretz.com – Under U.S. Pressure, Netanyahu May Ease Gaza Blockade – June 3, 2010

Jerusalem Post – Flotilla Dead Mourned in Turkey – 3 June 2010

Jerusalem Post – South Africa Recalls Its Ambassador – 3 June 2010

Telegraph.co.uk – Gaza Flotilla Attack: UN Secretary General Demands Blockade be Lifted – 3 June 2010

NY Times – Israeli FM Proposes Inquiry With Foreign Observers – 3 June 2010

Al Arabiya – UN Approves Probe Into Israel’s Ship Raid – 2 June 2010

N.Y. Times – In Bid to Quell Anger Over Raid, Israel Frees Detainees – 2 June 2010

N.Y. Times – New Israeli Tack Needed on Gaza, U.S. Officials Say – 2 June 2010

Free Gaza Movement – Our Mission – 30 January 2009

Free Gaza Movement – We Will Be Back – 30 January 2009

Legitimacy of the ICC Strengthened By Enforcement Agreements with Belgium, Denmark, and Finland

By Tristan Simoneau
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KAMPALA, Uganda – On June 1, 2010, Belgium, Denmark, and Finland signed agreements with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to enforce tribunal judges sentences of imprisonment.  The signing ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of Belgium, the Under-Secretary for legal affairs in the Danish Foreign Ministry, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Under-Secretary for Legal Affairs in the Danish Foreign Ministry.

The ICC President with representatives of Belgium, Denmark and Finland
Photo: The ICC President with representatives of Belgium, Denmark, and Finland [Source: AP]

These agreements raise the number of countries that are willing to detain people convicted by the ICC to five after Austria and the United Kingdom signed similar agreements in 2005 and 2007 respectively.  During the signing ceremony the President of the ICC, Judge San-Hyun Song, stated that “having sufficient options in place to ensure the enforcement of judicially ordered sentences is an important element in the overall credibility of the judicial process at the ICC.”

The Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is ongoing in Kampala, Uganda from 31 May to 11 June.  States that are currently parties to the ICC Rome Statute (ICC’s founding treaty), as well as observer states, international organizations, and NGOs are meeting to discuss amendments to the Statute as well as its impact to date.  Sentences of imprisonment, in accordance with Chapter X of the Rome Statute, shall be enforced by States which have declared to the Court their willingness to accept sentenced persons.

The ICC may enter into bilateral arrangements with States  to regulate the acceptance of persons sentenced by the Court.   According to the Statute, in deciding in which of the consenting States a person should serve its sentence, the ICC takes into consideration circumstances such as the application of standards governing the treatment of prisoners and the views and nationality of the sentenced person.  When the ICC has made a decision it notifies the State with information regarding the prisoner’s nationality, his or her medical status, the sentence and the final judgment.  The prisoner is then delivered to the territory of the State.

The ICC is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court.  The ICC is based in The Hague in the Netherlands tries people accused of the most serious international offences involving crimes against humanity such as genocide.  Currently, investigations are ongoing in five nations including Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Kenya.  Four suspects are currently in the court’s custody while two trials are underway before the ICC Trial Chambers.

For more information, please see:

HAGUE JUSTICE PORTAL – The ICC has entered into Agreements with Belgium, Denmark, and Finland to Enforce Sentences – 2 June 2010

FRONTIER INDIA – The ICC Sings Enforcement Agreements with Belgium, Denmark, and Finland – 1 June 2010

UN NEWS CENTER – European Trio Agree to Enforce Jail Terms Imposed by ICC – 1 June 2010

Papua New Guinea Government Struggles to Combat Cholera Outbreak

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor-News

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea- A cholera outbreak, which started in August of 2009 appears to be getting worse. There have been over 600 cases reported since August and reports of the disease are no longer only appearing in rural areas. There have been reports of the disease in the capital city of Port Moresby.

The government declared a public health emergency in August after there were reports that public funds to fight the disease were “dried up.”  The spread of the disease to urban areas has been linked to sanitation problems.

A health expert told Radio News Australia that in “the urban areas you’ve got a lot of settlement areas, low income settlement areas, and also enclaves of squatter settlements and these are generally not well serviced with good quality water and sanitation standards.”

When asked about government preparedness for such an outbreak, the government stressed that Papua New Guinea has “very limited resources within its health care sector . . . they generally have a high burden of health related issues, things like malaria, TB, HIV Aids etc . . . when diseases like this come along, they really have to divert resources from those areas to deal.”

Government officials are calling for multi-sector collaboration to combat the disease aggressively.

For more information, please see:

Top News-Cholera Outbreak in Papua New Guinea’s Capital Port Moresby-4 June 2010

Radio News Australia-Death Toll Rises from PNG Cholera Epidemic-3 June 2010

Radio News Australia-Poor Sanitation and Water Quality Fuelling-3 June 2010

Impartial Investigation Urged in Murder of Activist Floribert Chebeya

Floribert Chebeya, courtesy of www.rtbf.be
Floribert Chebeya, courtesy of www.rtbf.be

By Celeste Little
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo– Floribert Chebeya, a prominent Congolese human rights activist, was found dead in his car, in the Mont Ngafula area of Kinshasa, on Tuesday. He was forty seven. Chebeya sent a text message to his wife stating that he was at police headquarters for a meeting he had scheduled with the national police chief, John Numbi, but they had “not been able to meet.” His driver, Fidele Bazana, is still missing.

Chebeya had written to the police chief regarding the improvement of detention conditions in prisons and had received a letter acknowledging his concerns. On June 1st, the police called Chebeya to invite him to meet with Numbi. Chebeya left his office at 5 p.m. to attend the meeting, called his wife to let her know he was on his way and sent the text message to say they hadn’t been able to meet at 8 p.m. After 9 p.m. all communication from Chebeya ceased. The scheduled meeting never occurred, according to the police and members of Chebeya’s organization, the Voice of Voicelessness.

Chebeya founded the Voice of the Voiceless in 1983. The organization was based in Kinshasa and was one of the most renowned human rights organizations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Chebeya fought against illegal arrest, unjustified detention and corruption. He had been subject to threats, surveillance, and police abuse for over twenty years because of the radical opinion he held.  The DRC has been preparing to celebrate 50 years of independence from Belgium and though Cheyeba received an invitation to festivities that were being held by Belgian king, Albert II, he refused to attend. He denounced the celebration, saying that “this was not a time for parades but an opportunity to discuss the social ills still facing the country,” according to Thomas Fessy for BBC News.

A senior UN investigator who spoke to BBC believes that the circumstances surrounding Chebeya’s death, “strongly suggest official responsibility.” On Thursday, members of Chebeya’s family were allowed access to his body at the main morgue in Kinshasa. They were only allowed to see his face because the rest of his body was covered by a sheet that they were not allowed to remove, said Fessy. Dolly Ibefo, one of Chebeya’s collegues from the Voice of Voicelessness, said that when he viewed the body, he noticed blood in Chebeya’s ears, nose and mouth. Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, claims that. “the Chebeya family’s very limited access to his body and conflicting statements about the cause of death raise serious concerns about what really happened. These irregularities indicate there may already be an attempt to cover up the truth.”

Her concerns regarding this case are not unfounded because this isn’t the first time a human rights activist or journalist has been murdered for his opinion. In November of 2005, journalist Franck Ngyke and his wife, Helene Mpaka, were murdered outside their home in Kinshasa. On July 31, 2005, human rights activist Pascal Kabungulu Kimembi, was shot and killed in his home in Bukavu, in eastern Congo. In June 2007 and November 2008, respectively, two radio journalists from Radio Okapi, Serge Maheshe and Didace Namujimbo were also killed in Bukavu.

Organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have been joined by the United Nations, the European Union and France in investigating Chebeya’s death to insure that the investigation and trial of his murder is not handled in the same way as it was in each of these killings.  The government of the DRC has not officially responded to Chebeya’s death, but has called for an inquiry into it.

For more information, please see:

AFP-Driver of murdered DRC rights activist missing–4 June 2010

BBC News- UN calls for DR Congo probe into activist’s death– 4 June 2010

Human Rights Watch- DR Congo: Prominent Human Rights Defender Killed– 3 June 2010

U.S. Kills Civilians in Drone Strikes over Pakistan and Afghanistan

By David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

WAZIRSTAN, Afghanistan – Nine people were killed one Friday night when a suspected U.S. drone struck North Waziristan, near the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, according local officials.  The dead consisted of two children, two women and five men, Pakistani intelligence and administrative officials said.  Investigators from the US military have found that “inaccurate and unprofessional” reporting by US operators of a drone was behind a missile strike that killed 23 Afghan civilians in February.”

US crew faulted for drone deaths

(Image courtesy of apakistannews.com)

Four American officers – two described as senior – received formal reprimands over the incident.  Ge.neral Stanley McChrystal, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, called for the Air Force to investigate the actions of the crew involved in the incident.  “Our most important mission here is to protect the Afghan people,” he told reporters.  McChrystal had apologized to Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, shortly after the attack.

“Inadvertently killing or injuring civilians is heartbreaking and undermines their trust and confidence in our mission. We will do all we can to regain that trust.”

Because the drone strikes kill innocent civilians and bystanders along with leaders from far away, they “infuriate the Muslim male”, said Addicott, thus making them more willing to join the movement. The men in Pakistan’s tribal region “view Americans as cowards and weasels”, he added.

The UN says at least 2,412 civilians were killed in the Afghan conflict in 2009 – a 14 per cent increase over the previous year.  Nato and Afghan government forces were responsible for 25 per cent of the deaths and of those, about 60 per cent were due to airstrikes, the UN said in a report published in January.

While using drones to attack what amounts to military targets might not be strictly illegal under existing laws of war, Alston says, because such practices “make it easier to kill without risk to a state’s forces, policymakers and commanders will be tempted to interpret the legal limitations on who can be killed, and under what circumstances, too expansively.” Moreover, Alston says, “Because [drone] operators are based thousands of miles away from the battlefield and undertake operations entirely through computer screens and remote audio feed, there is a risk of developing a ‘PlayStation’ mentality to killing.” Alston recommends that governments should also make public “the number of civilians collaterally killed in a targeted killing operation, and the measures in place to prevent such casualties.”

For more information, please see:

CNN World News – 9 killed in suspected U.S. drone strike in Pakistan – 22 May 2010

IPS News – CIA Drone Operators Oppose Strikes as Helping al Qaeda – 3 June 2010

Al Jazeera English – US crew faulted for drone deaths – 30 May 2010

Image Courtesy of A Pakistan News