Palestinian War Criminals

From: "Ivan Pope" <[email protected]>
> Would you extend the same kind offer of assistance to the Palestinians who
> seem to find their country occupied?
> Cheers,
> Ivan

Israel/PA: Suicide Bombers Commit Crimes Against Humanity )

(Gaza, November 1, 2002) The people responsible for planning and carrying o=
ut suicide bombings that deliberately target civilians are guilty of crimes=
against humanity and should be brought to justice, Human Rights Watch said=
in a new report today.

The 170-page report is the first full-fledged examination of individual cri=
minal responsibility for suicide bombings against civilians in Israel and t=
he Israeli-occupied territories. The report, Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bo=
mbing Attacks against Israeli Civilians, also provides the most thorough st=
udy to date of the suicide bombing operations of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the =
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Pales=
tine (PFLP), the groups that have claimed responsibility for almost all rec=
ent suicide bombings.

"The people who carry out suicide bombings are not martyrs, they're war cri=
minals, and so are the people who help to plan such attacks," said Kenneth =
Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "The scale and systematic n=
ature of these attacks sets them apart from other abuses committed in times=
of conflict. They clearly fall under the category of crimes against humani=
ty."

Since January 2001, 52 Palestinian suicide bombings have killed some 250 ci=
vilians and injured 2,000 more.

Well-established principles of international law require that those in auth=
ority be held accountable when people under their control commit war crimes=
or crimes against humanity. Leaders who order such crimes, fail to take re=
asonable preventive action, or fail to punish the perpetrators are also res=
ponsible for such crimes.
The top leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad have openly espoused, encouraged=
, or endorsed suicide bombing attacks against Israeli civilians, and indica=
ted that they have the capacity to stop them from happening. Those leaders,=
such as Hamas's Shaikh Ahmad Yassin and Khalid Mish`al and Islamic Jihad's=
Ramadan Shalah, should face criminal investigation for their roles in thes=
e crimes. The PFLP has publicly claimed responsibility for suicide bombings=
and car bombings against civilians. Its leaders appear to exercise control=
over their occurrence and so warrant criminal investigation. In the case o=
f the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, control and responsibility appears to be c=
entered at local levels, and those responsible should also face criminal in=
vestigation.

The Human Rights Watch report assesses the role and responsibility of the P=
alestinian Authority (PA) and President Yasir Arafat regarding suicide bomb=
ings against civilians. It concludes that the PA failed to take all availab=
le measures to deter such attacks or bring those responsible to justice, an=
d by its failure contributed to an atmosphere of impunity for such crimes.=


"The greatest failure of President Arafat and the PA leadership is their un=
willingness to deploy the criminal justice system to deter the suicide bomb=
ings, particularly in 2001, when the PA was most capable of doing so," Roth=
said.

Roth said the PA's failure to take effective preventive action or to punish=
perpetrators outside of its control does not meet the criteria of command =
responsibility under the current state of international law. "But Arafat an=
d the PA do bear a high degree of political responsibility for the atrociti=
es that occurred," Roth said.
The PA has argued that Israeli actions, such as the destruction of PA polic=
e and security installations, undermined its capacity to act. But even when=
that capacity was largely intact, the PA took no effective action to bring=
to justice those who incited, planned or assisted in carrying out bombings=
and other attacks on Israeli civilians. Instead, the PA pursued a policy w=
hereby suspects, when they were detained, were not investigated or prosecut=
ed, but typically were soon let out onto the street again.

The PA sought to explain these releases by citing the danger to detainees w=
hen Israeli forces bombed places of detention. But the PA has not explained=
why suspects were never investigated or charged, steps that do not depend =
on holding suspects in places of detention.

Human Rights Watch conducted in-depth interviews with PA officials and memb=
ers of the armed groups, and closely reviewed PA internal documents made pu=
blic by Israel. On the basis of what was publicly available to date, Human =
Rights Watch did not find evidence that Arafat or the PA planned, ordered o=
r carried out suicide bombings or other attacks on Israeli civilians, or th=
at they were able to exercise effective control over the actions of the per=
petrator groups, including the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an off-shoot of A=
rafat's Fatah movement.

Palestinian armed groups and their supporters have pointed to repeated Isra=
eli attacks that have killed and injured Palestinian civilians as justifica=
tion for the suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians. The r=
eport concludes that these arguments in no way justify reprisals that targe=
t or indiscriminately attack civilians.
"The prohibition against targeting civilians doesn't depend on the behavior=
of one's adversary," Roth said. "Even in the face of Israeli violations of=
international law, Palestinian armed groups must refrain from deliberate a=
ttacks against civilians."

The armed groups responsible for these attacks argue that Israel's continui=
ng military occupation, and its vastly superior means of combat, make such =
attacks their only option. Again, these arguments find no justification wha=
tsoever in international law, which is absolute and unconditional in its pr=
ohibition of intentional attacks against civilians.

"Armed conflicts often involve discrepancies of power between adversaries,"=
said Roth. "Allowing those discrepancies to justify attacking civilians wo=
uld create an immense loophole in the protections of international humanita=
rian law."

Finally, Palestinian armed groups also assert that their targets are not re=
ally civilians because "all Israelis are reservists" or because, they say, =
Israeli residents of settlements have forfeited their civilian status. The =
report points out that international humanitarian law is clear: reserve mem=
bers of military forces are combatants only while on active duty, and other=
wise benefit from protection as civilians. And while civilian Israeli settl=
ements in the West Bank and Gaza are illegal under international humanitari=
an law, persons residing there are entitled to protection as civilians exce=
pt when they are directly participating in hostilities.

Human Rights Watch called on all Palestinian armed groups to halt attacks o=
n civilians immediately and unconditionally, and urged the PA to ensure tha=
t those in any way responsible for such attacks are brought to justice. Hum=
an Rights Watch also urged the PA to undertake a public campaign urging an =
end suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians and making clear t=
hat the PA does not consider as "martyrs" people who die carrying out attac=
ks that deliberately or indiscriminately kill or cause great suffering amon=
g civilians.