By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

JERUSALEM – On January 25, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert announced that the Cabinet approved a measure that will give legal protection to its military officers if they are accused of war crimes during the Gaza incursion.  This measure was proposed by Defense Minister Barak in response to international calls for investigations and prosecutions of possible war crimes.  

In announcing the measure, Olmert stated, “The state of Israel will completely back anyone that acted in its name… The soldiers and commanders that were sent on missions in Gaza need to know that they are safe from different tribunals.  Israel will assist them and protect them as they physically protected us during the operation in Gaza.”

Prior to gaining Cabinet support, Barak urged ministers to back the proposal; “The endorsement will ensure that since we sent out soldiers to carry out Operation Cast Lead, which was carried out exceptionally and by the most moral army in the world, the state of Israel, which sent the IDF on the mission, will give soldiers and commanders backing in the face of any external accusations or internal self-flagellation,”

The measure creates an inter-ministerial committee and is headed by Justice Minister Daniel Friedman.  It consists of representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign, Justice and Defense ministries, and will include experts on international law.

The purpose of the committee is “to coordinate Israel’s efforts to offer legal defense for anyone who took part in the operation.”  According to Olmert, Friedman “will formulate questions and answers relating to the army’s operations, which self-righteous people … might use to sue officers and soldiers,”

According to the proposal, Operation Cast Lead was a legitimate act of self-defense under international law, and followed years of restraint following the firing of thousands of rockets into southern Israel.  In addition, the proposal states that despite Israel’s best efforts, there were tragic and regrettable instances of civilian casualties.  Means of avoiding civilian casualties included dropping pamphlets and calling local residents to warn them to stay away from conflict zones.

The proposal also notes that Hamas “cynically” used civilians as human shields and is therefore responsible for noncombatant casualties.  In addition, Hamas is also accused of using civilians to manipulate the media and international public opinion.  According to Olmert, “Out of a policy of moral acrobatics they try to make the aggressor the victim and turn the victim into the aggressor.”  He added, “Hamas’s policy for years has been to fight to the last drop of Gaza civilians’ blood and to hurt them.”

While Israel is committing state resources to protect its soldiers from international prosecution over possible war crimes, it still has an international obligation to investigate and prosecute for violations of the law of war.  International, Palestinian, and Israeli human rights groups demand that the Israeli government investigate various allegations and hold those responsible accountable.

For example, the BBC reported on four year old Samar Abed Rabbu.  BBC’s Christian Fraser met Samar in an Egyptian hospital.  According to her uncle, an Israeli tank stopped in front of the family’s home in Jabaliya, in northern Gaza.  Israeli soldiers ordered the family out into the street.  Then, an Israeli soldier opened fire; killing Samar’s two sisters and injuring her grandmother.  Samar was shot in the back and the bullet hit her spine, making it unlikely that she will walk again.

According to Samar’s uncle, the soldiers were only 15 meters away and they were all carrying white flags.  Her uncle insists that this was a deliberate targeting of civilians and thus a war crime.  

The BBC went into Gaza to look for Rabbu’s family and found her father, Khalid Abed Rabbu.  Khalid’s account of the incident is similar to Rabbu’s uncle.  The BBC submitted a map of the incident, the time and date, and witness statements to the Israeli military, who promised to investigate the incident.

During the 22 day operation, Palestinian Ministry of Health, 1,314 Palestinians were killed. 412 were children under the age of 18, and 110 were women.  It is estimated that 65 percent of Palestinian casualties were civilians.  In contrast, 13 Israelis were killed during Operation Cast Lead.  Three civilians were killed by rockets fired from Gaza.  Ten soldiers were killed during the ground incursion; however, four were lost to “friendly fire.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Israel to Protect Its Soldiers From War Crimes Charges – 25 January 2009

Bloomberg – Israel Names Team to Defend Soldiers Against War-Crime Charges – 25 January 2009

CNN – Israel Prepares Legal Defense of Soldiers – 25 January 2009

Jerusalem Post – Cabinet Okays Legal Backing for Troops – 25 January 2009

Independent – A Shameful War: Israel in the Dock Over Assault on Gaza – 25 January 2009

Reuters – Israel Promise Troops Legal Backing Over Gaza War – 25 January 2009

BBC – New Evidence of Gaza Child Deaths – 22 January 2009

BBC – Gaza Father Finds Out Child Survived – 21 January 2009

BAGHDAD, Iraq– On December 21, 2008 the Iraq government announced plans to close Camp Ashraf within two months.  The Iraqi government assumed responsibility for the security of the camp from U.S. forces earlier this year.  On January 21, 2009, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the government will expel all members of PMOI from the country.

For more than 20 years, members of the exiled organization People’s Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) have lived in the camp, located north of Baghdad.  The camp was first opened in 1986, when members of the group fled Iran and were permitted to establish a base north of Baghdad to launch raids against Iran in support of Iraqi war efforts during the Iran-Iraq War.  The organization was also used by Saddam Hussein to suppress Shiite and Kurdish opposition in Iraq following the first Persian Gulf War.  Although PMOI claims it has renounced violence since 2001, Iraq, the United States and the European Union continue to classify PMOI as a terrorist organization.  Iraq has also accused the organization of planning suicide attacks targeting Iraqi security forces, which the organization has denied, calling the allegation a “sheer lie” on the part of the Iraqi government.

According to Iraqi National Security Adviser, Muwaffeq al-Rubaie, “over 3,000 inhabitants of Camp Ashraf have to leave Iraq and the camp will be part of history within two months.”  The Iraqi government has announced plans to close the camp on more than one occasion since the fall of Saddam Hussein;s Baathist government in 2003.  However, according to al-Rubaie, the recent decision to close the camp and the two month time table are “irreversible.”  Iraq maintains it will not allow terrorist groups to operate on Iraqi soil.

While the Iraqi government has stated that the inhabitants of the camp will not be expelled from Iraq by force, the government has not indicated where they will be permitted to reside after the two month deadline expires.  The government has stated that members of the PMOI will either be returned to Iran, at their own request, or to another country where they currently hold a passport of residence.  According to al-Rubai, currently 914 PMOI members do have passports of residency for a third country.

Amnesty International has urged the Iraqi government to classify members of PMOI as “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.  Classifying members of the organization in this manner will preclude the Iraqi government from extraditing or forcibly returning people to their countries of origin where they may be subject to torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or execution.

For more information, please see:

Gulf Daily News – Iraq Terror Clamp – 24 January 2009

Tehran Times – Iraq to Close MKO Camp in Two Months – 24 January 2009

Hartford Courant – Iraqi ACcuses Iranian Opposition Group of Planning Suicide Attack; Exiles Deny Allegation – 23 January 2009

Reuters – Iraq Says Will Shut Iran Rebel Camp in 2 Months – 23 January 2009