UN Rights Head Sees Possible Mideast War Crimes

[Purveyor]

GENEVA (Reuters) - The scale of killing and maiming of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territory of Gaza could constitute war crimes, the United Nations human rights chief said on Wednesday.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said international humanitarian law was clear on the need to protect non-combatants in any conflict. "This obligation is also expressed in international criminal law, which defines war crimes and crimes against humanity," she said.

"The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control," she said, without directly accusing anyone.

--snip--

In a separate statement, the U.N. special envoy on the right to health said Israel's destruction of Gaza's only power station could constitute a war crime and should be investigated.

New Zealander Paul Hunt said lack of power had caused a serious water shortage and affected sewage disposal for tens of thousands of households in the Gaza Strip. Reported cases of diarrhoea had risen 163 percent compared with last year, he added.


http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/U_N_rights_head_sees_possible_Mideast_war_crimes.html?siteSect=143&sid=6907991&cKey=1153327981000

[Waya]

1. POSSIBLE??????????????

...has he been paying attention???:banghead:

[ladjf]

17. That's diplomatic code for "damn certain".

[springhill]

20. My reaction was the same as yours.............

It's like saying Bush's listening on our phone conversations MAY be illegal. There is no may about it, it is ILLEGAL: and this is a war crime.

[cali]

2. Good.

It's a start.

[Mandate My Ass]

3. K & R

[ER One Seven]

4. blah, blah, blah

[stop the bleeding]

5. please elaborate n/t

[ER One Seven]

6. elaboartion

All I am saying is that it really doesnt matter what this clown from the UN says.

[stop the bleeding]

7. my thoughts as well

except I don't know if he/she is a clown or not, I do know that * takes the clown/asshat prize.

Overall the UN has no ability to do anything in regards to holding countries accountable for war crimes, especially when the US pretty much calls the shots on what gets done or not done.

[ladjf]

18. In light of all the support Israel is getting from our government,

I was rather pleased than anyone with authority would recognize the abuse. True that nothing will come of it.

[barb162]

21. How many rockets did Hezbollah shoot into Israel today?

They don't care who the hell they kill, including the two little Israeli Arab kids in Nazareth today. There's loss of life by all the parties, Palestinians, Israelis and Lebanese. Israel has the right to defend itself, does it not?

[LynnTheDem]

22. Not by committing war crimes, no.

[sugapablo]

25. SO....

So I suppose if Hezbollah hides behind civilians, Israel has no choice but to simply pull down their pants, bend over, spread their cheeks wide, and let Hezbollah kill their people?

Because that's what Hezbollah does. They use civilians as human shields in hopes Israel DOES retaliate.

EVERY WAR has civilain casualties. When the US flattened Germany, how many civilians were killed? Should we have not taken down Hitler because we might have killed civilians?

Israel is flattening Lebanon, but less than 300 people have been killed in 8 days? That shows REMARKABLE restraint in a military campaign.

Make no mistake, the loss of civilian life is terrible. But it's unavoidable in modern warfare. Armies no longer meet on battlefields like Gettysburg.

Besides, if Hezbollah had the capability, they'd kill every man, woman, and child in Israel without ANY restraint. Make no mistake about that!

[LynnTheDem]

27. A war crime is a war crime is a war crime.

Period.

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. And how many bombing runs

did Israeli jets make into Lebanon today?

They even destroyed a Red Cross building. Tell me again, the Israelis aren't targeting civilian populations?

[Waya]

29. And yet, the margin is more than 10 to 1......

..more Lebanese Civilians have died than Israelis.....and it's always like that...it's Israel that doesn't give a damn what it hits and who it kills and how many. Israel's has no problem with collectively punishing a whole Nation which didn't do anything to deserve having their homes bombed, their children killed, their infrastructure ruined and their country bombed back into the stone age.

It's disgusting, and the world stands by and condemns here and there verbally, except for the US, of course, which thinks Israel should have the chance to bombard Lebanon until they either get tired of it or the ammo runs out, whichever comes first.
I'm sick of hearing of Israel's right to defend itself. Israel, the eternal victim, who has pissed around with its neighbors from day one and then cries foul when said neighbors don't lay down and take it.

It makes you wanna puke............

[IndianaGreen]

30. How many Israelis have been displaced? 12% of the Lebanese are refugees

all thanks to Israel's bombing of population centers across Lebanon. This would be like having nearly 4 million Americans fleeing for their lives in their own country.

[TomInTib]

8. I suppose Ms Arbour has overlooked the veto power of the US

Never gonna happen.

[HereSince1628]

9. I didn't know that US had veto power in the International Court.

Are you sure about that? I think all that is needed is a sympathetic country to approach the court with evidence of the crimes. It seems to me there is a good chance that Italy might just be such a country.

[tritsofme]

15. Israel, like the US is not a party to the Rome Treaty

and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC.

[DemFromMem]

10. Not exactly smart given the circumstances

The UN is trying to convince the parties that UNIFIL can be trusted to administer the ceasefire. This hardly will advance that goal.

[rodeodance]

11. rec.

[leveymg]

12. What happened to * Administration war crimes in Iraq?

Has Abu Ghraib and all the rest just gone down the memory hole, or is that a taboo subject among career diplomats?

[daleo]

13. She is a Canadian, if I recall correctly

She had a lot of involvement with war crimes prosecutions in the former Yugoslavia. I believe her work was thought of very highly in that case, by most people.

On edit:
"In 1996, she was appointed Chief Prosecutor of War Crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. In that capacity she indicted then President Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes, the first time a serving head of State was called to account before an international court. Also indicted were Milan Milutinovic, President of the Republic of Serbia, Nikola Sainovic, Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Vlajko Stojiljkovic, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia.<1><2><3>"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Arbour

She's no crank, although I doubt that there will be prosecutions in this case. The Bush administration would never allow it.

[wakeme2008]

14. Bush and the Isaeli PM can share cells...

:evilgrin:

[saigon68]

28. Maybe they can invite Saddam over for dinner

LOL

[ladjf]

16. Meanwhile, the WH and Congress are complimenting Israel

for their actions.

[OneBlueSky]

19. the entire invasion and occupation of Iraq is a war crime . . .

explicitly prohibited by international law . . . unfortunately, the community of nations seems too intimidated by the US to call it what it is and prosecute accordingly . . .

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. It might restrict their vacations, attendance at conferences

and use of hospitals in civilised countries, I suppose. An Israeli general had to turn back at Heathrow Airport because the police were waiting to arrest him for war crimes.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

26. Don't we own the war crimes tribunal also? n/t