There is evidence that both Israeli and Palestinian forces committed war crimes in the recent conflict in Gaza, a long-awaited official UN report says. It accuses Israel of deliberately using "disproportionate force" in the three-week operation in December and January. The report also condemned rocket attacks by Palestinian groups which Israel says sparked its offensive.
Palestinians and human rights groups say more than 1,400 Gazans were killed, but Israel puts the figure at 1,166. Three Israeli civilians and 10 Israeli soldiers were also killed.
Israel, which had refused to co-operate with the UN fact-finding team, said the report was "clearly one-sided". The investigation, led by South African judge Richard Goldstone, found evidence "indicating serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law were committed by Israel during the Gaza conflict", a UN statement said. Israel also "committed actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity". The Israeli operations, the document states, "were carefully planned in all their phases as a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorise a civilian population". The report accuses Israel of imposing "a blockade which amounted to collective punishment" in the lead-up to the conflict. It says "the Israeli military operation was directed at the people of Gaza as a whole". The report says Israel must be held accountable for its actions during the war, a process which could lead to the conflict being referred to the International Criminal Court. The report found there was also evidence that Palestinian groups had committed war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity, in their repeated rocket and mortars attacks on Israel. It says the launching of rockets which "cannot be aimed with precision at military targets" breaches the fundamental principle of sparing civilian lives. "Where there is no intended military target and the rockets and mortars are launched into civilian areas, they constitute a deliberate attack against the civilian population," it said. It also calls for the immediate release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier seized in a Palestinian raid in 2006 and taken to Gaza.
Both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities are criticised for the treatment of their own civilians during the conflict. Israel's interrogation of political activists and repression of criticism of its activities had "contributed significantly to a political climate in which dissent was not tolerated", it said. Meanwhile, the alleged "arbitrary arrests" and "extra-judicial executions" of Palestinians by the authorities in both Gaza and the West Bank were also criticised. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC the report had been "born in sin" and had no mandate for its investigation.
The authorities in Gaza and the West Bank did co-operate with the UN mission, but Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has also dismissed the report as "political, unbalanced and dishonest". Ismael Radwan, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, was quoted by AFP news agency as saying it "puts on the same level those who perpetrate crimes and those who resist". Mr Goldstone rejected such allegations, and told the BBC that "fair minded people" should read the report and "at the end of it, point out where it failed to be objective or even-handed". The 574-page document recommends that authorities in both Israel and Gaza be required to investigate the allegations and report to the UN Security Council within six months.
The Israeli military insists troops acted lawfully during the conflict. The government says it has carried out more than 100 investigations into allegations of abuses by its forces - most were dismissed as "baseless" but 23 criminal investigations are still pending. It reiterated that it was "committed to acting fully in accordance with international law and to examining any allegations of wrongdoing by its forces".
The full report - which is based on 188 interviews, more than 10,000 pages of documentation and 1,200 photographs and other material - will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council at the end of this month. Eight months after the conflict, very little reconstruction has taken place in Gaza because of the strict Israeli-imposed blockade which bans all but essential supplies from entering the enclave. The stated aim of the blockade is to weaken Hamas's leadership but aid agencies say it serves only to punish the civilian population.
Source: BBC
A copy of the report can be found here.
Showing posts with label International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
In turnaround, U.S. signs U.N. gay rights document
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the Obama administration, which took office eight weeks ago, would now join 66 other U.N. member states who supported a U.N. statement in December that condemned human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. "The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world," Wood told reporters. "As such, we join with other supporters of this statement, and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora."
Gay rights groups immediately welcomed the move. "The administration's leadership on this issue will be a powerful rebuke of an earlier Bush administration position that sought to deny the universal application of human rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals," said Mark Bromley, who chairs the Council for Global Equality.
The U.N. General Assembly had been split over the issue of gay rights, with many Muslim countries refusing to sign on to the statement because of opposition to international attempts to legalize homosexuality. A rival statement read out by Syria at the time gathered about 60 signatures from the 192-nation assembly.
The United States was the only western state not to sign on to the gay rights document. All European Union member states endorsed it, as did Canada, Australia and Japan. In a move that angered U.S. gay rights groups, the Bush administration argued that the broad framing of the language in the statement created conflict with U.S. laws. The rationale was that favoring gay rights in a U.N. document might be interpreted as an attempt by the U.S. federal government to override individual states' rights on issues like gay marriage. Pressed on this issue, Wood said a "careful" interagency review by the Obama administration found that signing on to the U.N. document "commits us to no legal obligations."
Division in the General Assembly over the U.N. declaration reflects conflicting laws worldwide on the issue. According to the sponsors of the Franco-Dutch text of the document, homosexuality is illegal in 77 countries, seven of which punish it by death.
At a townhall meeting in Brussels earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pressed on her views on gay rights. "Human rights is and always will be one of the pillars of our foreign policy," she said. "In particular, persecution and discrimination against gays and lesbians is something we take very seriously."
Source: Reuters
Gay rights groups immediately welcomed the move. "The administration's leadership on this issue will be a powerful rebuke of an earlier Bush administration position that sought to deny the universal application of human rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals," said Mark Bromley, who chairs the Council for Global Equality.
The U.N. General Assembly had been split over the issue of gay rights, with many Muslim countries refusing to sign on to the statement because of opposition to international attempts to legalize homosexuality. A rival statement read out by Syria at the time gathered about 60 signatures from the 192-nation assembly.
The United States was the only western state not to sign on to the gay rights document. All European Union member states endorsed it, as did Canada, Australia and Japan. In a move that angered U.S. gay rights groups, the Bush administration argued that the broad framing of the language in the statement created conflict with U.S. laws. The rationale was that favoring gay rights in a U.N. document might be interpreted as an attempt by the U.S. federal government to override individual states' rights on issues like gay marriage. Pressed on this issue, Wood said a "careful" interagency review by the Obama administration found that signing on to the U.N. document "commits us to no legal obligations."
Division in the General Assembly over the U.N. declaration reflects conflicting laws worldwide on the issue. According to the sponsors of the Franco-Dutch text of the document, homosexuality is illegal in 77 countries, seven of which punish it by death.
At a townhall meeting in Brussels earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pressed on her views on gay rights. "Human rights is and always will be one of the pillars of our foreign policy," she said. "In particular, persecution and discrimination against gays and lesbians is something we take very seriously."
Source: Reuters
Thursday, June 20, 1996
Forced labour in Myanmar (Burma)
By a letter dated 20 June 1996 addressed to the Director-General of the ILO, 25 Workers' delegates to the 83rd Session of the International Labour Conference (June 1996) presented a complaint under article 26 of the Constitution against the Government of Myanmar for non-observance of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), which it ratified on 4 March 1955 and which came into force for Myanmar on 4 March 1956. The complaint stated, in particular, that:
Myanmar's gross violations of the Convention [No. 29] have been criticized by the ILO's supervisory bodies for 30 years. In 1995, and again in 1996, they have been the subject of special paragraphs in the reports of the Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, and this year, the Government has also been singled out by the Committee for its "continued failure to implement" the Convention.
In addition, in November 1994, the Governing Body adopted the report of the Committee it had established to examine the representation made by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions [ICFTU] against the Government of Myanmar for its failure to ensure effective observance of Convention No. 29.
The Government has demonstrated its unwillingness to act upon the repeated calls addressed to it by the ILO's supervisory bodies to abolish and cancel legislation which allows for the use of forced labour and to ensure that forced labour is eliminated in practice. In these circumstances, the Committee on Applications has again expressed deep concern at the systematic recourse to forced labour in Myanmar.
Despite its protestations that the powers available under the offending legislation, the Village Act (1908) and the Towns Act (1907), have fallen into disuse since 1967 and that these laws are currently under review with a view to their repeal, the Government has failed conspicuously to provide the information requested of it concerning concrete action for legislative change.
Indeed, it is clear that the practice of forced labour is becoming more widespread and that the authorities in Myanmar are directly responsible for its increasing use, and actively involved in its exploitation.
The ICFTU representation presented under article 24 of the Constitution in January 1993 addressed the particular case of the forced recruitment and abuse of porters by the military which was, at that time, the primary cause of concern.
Since then, however, forced labour is being used systematically, on an ever larger scale, and in an increasing number of areas of activity. Large numbers of forced labourers are now working on railway, road, construction, and other infrastructure projects, many of which are related to the Government's efforts to promote tourism in Myanmar. In addition the military is engaged in the confiscation of land from villagers who are then forced to cultivate it to the benefit of the military appropriators.
The current situation is that the Government of Myanmar, far from acting to end the practice of forced labour, is engaged actively in its promotion, so that it is today an endemic abuse affecting hundreds of thousands of workers who are subjected to the most extreme forms of exploitation, which all too frequently leads to loss of life.
Source: International Labour Organisation (ILO)
Myanmar's gross violations of the Convention [No. 29] have been criticized by the ILO's supervisory bodies for 30 years. In 1995, and again in 1996, they have been the subject of special paragraphs in the reports of the Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, and this year, the Government has also been singled out by the Committee for its "continued failure to implement" the Convention.
In addition, in November 1994, the Governing Body adopted the report of the Committee it had established to examine the representation made by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions [ICFTU] against the Government of Myanmar for its failure to ensure effective observance of Convention No. 29.
The Government has demonstrated its unwillingness to act upon the repeated calls addressed to it by the ILO's supervisory bodies to abolish and cancel legislation which allows for the use of forced labour and to ensure that forced labour is eliminated in practice. In these circumstances, the Committee on Applications has again expressed deep concern at the systematic recourse to forced labour in Myanmar.
Despite its protestations that the powers available under the offending legislation, the Village Act (1908) and the Towns Act (1907), have fallen into disuse since 1967 and that these laws are currently under review with a view to their repeal, the Government has failed conspicuously to provide the information requested of it concerning concrete action for legislative change.
Indeed, it is clear that the practice of forced labour is becoming more widespread and that the authorities in Myanmar are directly responsible for its increasing use, and actively involved in its exploitation.
The ICFTU representation presented under article 24 of the Constitution in January 1993 addressed the particular case of the forced recruitment and abuse of porters by the military which was, at that time, the primary cause of concern.
Since then, however, forced labour is being used systematically, on an ever larger scale, and in an increasing number of areas of activity. Large numbers of forced labourers are now working on railway, road, construction, and other infrastructure projects, many of which are related to the Government's efforts to promote tourism in Myanmar. In addition the military is engaged in the confiscation of land from villagers who are then forced to cultivate it to the benefit of the military appropriators.
The current situation is that the Government of Myanmar, far from acting to end the practice of forced labour, is engaged actively in its promotion, so that it is today an endemic abuse affecting hundreds of thousands of workers who are subjected to the most extreme forms of exploitation, which all too frequently leads to loss of life.
Source: International Labour Organisation (ILO)
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