13 june 2017
Founder of Shovrim Shtika (Breaking the Silence) organization, Yehuda Shaul, admitted on Tuesday that he had used Palestinians as human shields dozens of times while serving in the Israeli army.
In an interview with the Chinese TV network earlier in June, Shaul stated that he had used hundreds of Palestinians as human shields while in military service, according to the Hebrew website NRG.
The website reported that Shaul, who served three years as a soldier in al-Khalil and who currently heads “Breaking the Silence” organization, said that when an Israeli force was sent to arrest Palestinian youths, it would use neighbors as human shields so that they would be shot instead of the Israeli soldiers in case there was an armed clash.
Breaking the Silence was founded in 2004 by Israeli army veterans who served in the occupied Palestinian territories especially in al-Khalil.
It was established to collect testimonies about the Israeli army's practices especially in the second Intifada in 2000 and even during the last two aggressions on the Gaza Strip.
The organization's goals include raising awareness in all fields and ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Breaking the Silence documented hundreds of testimonies by soldiers demobilized from military service which include committing abuses, property demolitions and extrajudicial killings against the Palestinians with the presence of evidence proving that senior officers were aware of all these crimes.
In an interview with the Chinese TV network earlier in June, Shaul stated that he had used hundreds of Palestinians as human shields while in military service, according to the Hebrew website NRG.
The website reported that Shaul, who served three years as a soldier in al-Khalil and who currently heads “Breaking the Silence” organization, said that when an Israeli force was sent to arrest Palestinian youths, it would use neighbors as human shields so that they would be shot instead of the Israeli soldiers in case there was an armed clash.
Breaking the Silence was founded in 2004 by Israeli army veterans who served in the occupied Palestinian territories especially in al-Khalil.
It was established to collect testimonies about the Israeli army's practices especially in the second Intifada in 2000 and even during the last two aggressions on the Gaza Strip.
The organization's goals include raising awareness in all fields and ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Breaking the Silence documented hundreds of testimonies by soldiers demobilized from military service which include committing abuses, property demolitions and extrajudicial killings against the Palestinians with the presence of evidence proving that senior officers were aware of all these crimes.
2 june 2017
The office of Switzerland’s attorney general has confirmed that it is examining a legal complaint filed by a Geneva-based pro-Palestinian group against former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, over her involvement in committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
According to Israel’s Channel 10, Livni has been named in a legal suit filed last Monday by a pro-Palestine activist group concerning her role in Israel’s war on Gaza between December 2008 – January 2009. She was a foreign minister and acting premier at the time.
The attorney general’s office accepted this legal request and said would study it.
On May 28, Livni attended an event in the Italian-speaking city of Lugano in southern Switzerland held by the Swiss-Israel association to celebrate the 69th anniversary of Israel’s creation. She left Switzerland on Monday via Italy.
According to Israel’s Channel 10, Livni has been named in a legal suit filed last Monday by a pro-Palestine activist group concerning her role in Israel’s war on Gaza between December 2008 – January 2009. She was a foreign minister and acting premier at the time.
The attorney general’s office accepted this legal request and said would study it.
On May 28, Livni attended an event in the Italian-speaking city of Lugano in southern Switzerland held by the Swiss-Israel association to celebrate the 69th anniversary of Israel’s creation. She left Switzerland on Monday via Italy.
31 may 2017
Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said on Wednesday that the investigation being conducted by the ICC Public Prosecution Office in the file of the Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, will most likely lead to the conviction of Israeli leaders.
Ocampo explained that the Israeli settlement activity is an ongoing war crime that constitutes a blatant violation of the Rome Statute and the principles of the international law which prohibit the occupying power to transfer its civilians to the occupied territory.
In this context, Ocampo denied statements attributed to him by a Hebrew newspaper a year and a half ago that the settlements do not violate the law, noting that it is not the first time that the Hebrew media claim such statements and that what was said is contrary to his firm legal convictions.
These statements were voiced during a panel discussion organized by al-Quds University in which a group of academics, students and researchers in the field of the international criminal law participated and discussed in depth the ICC mechanisms and the sequence of the events related to the Palestinian complaint filed to the court.
Ocampo pointed out that the lawsuit filed by the State of Palestine to the ICC caused a pressure on the Israeli side and added, quoting an Israeli leader, that Israel now recruits lawyers more than soldiers.
He affirmed that the Palestinian lawsuit is not an end in itself but one of the various political and diplomatic means used by the Palestinian side in order to achieve its legitimate goal of ending the occupation.
He said that exerting more pressure on Israel will compel it to reconsider its policies toward the Palestinians especially the settlement activity.
He stressed the importance of the role the civil society institutions, especially the legal centers in universities, can play in exposing the Israeli violations.
Ocampo explained that the Israeli settlement activity is an ongoing war crime that constitutes a blatant violation of the Rome Statute and the principles of the international law which prohibit the occupying power to transfer its civilians to the occupied territory.
In this context, Ocampo denied statements attributed to him by a Hebrew newspaper a year and a half ago that the settlements do not violate the law, noting that it is not the first time that the Hebrew media claim such statements and that what was said is contrary to his firm legal convictions.
These statements were voiced during a panel discussion organized by al-Quds University in which a group of academics, students and researchers in the field of the international criminal law participated and discussed in depth the ICC mechanisms and the sequence of the events related to the Palestinian complaint filed to the court.
Ocampo pointed out that the lawsuit filed by the State of Palestine to the ICC caused a pressure on the Israeli side and added, quoting an Israeli leader, that Israel now recruits lawyers more than soldiers.
He affirmed that the Palestinian lawsuit is not an end in itself but one of the various political and diplomatic means used by the Palestinian side in order to achieve its legitimate goal of ending the occupation.
He said that exerting more pressure on Israel will compel it to reconsider its policies toward the Palestinians especially the settlement activity.
He stressed the importance of the role the civil society institutions, especially the legal centers in universities, can play in exposing the Israeli violations.
7 may 2017
News is coming about the Israeli preparations to commit the force-feeding crime against hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, who have been on hunger strike for 20 days.
The Israeli media lately announced the Israeli government’s intention to recruit doctors from abroad to force-feed hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.
On 17 April 2017, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners started a hunger strike to pressurize the Israeli Prison Service in order to offer them proper detention conditions that respect their dignity and humanity.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) follows up with deep concern the arbitrary and inhuman measures practiced by the Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners since the very first day of their hunger strike.
These measures include but not limited to solitary confinement, threats, stress and finally the Israeli perpetrations to force-feed them. PCHR emphasizes that all the Israeli practices fall within the policy of torture as identified by Article 1 of the Convention against Torture.
PCHR stresses that it will work on prosecuting all those involved in force-feeding the prisoners on hunger strike by all available legal means.
PCHR also calls upon doctors syndicates all over the world to advice its associate members not to participate in any force-feeding process and publish a statement in this regard according to their governments’ obligations under Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Convention against Torture in addition to the peremptory International norms against torture that force-feeding is a form of which.
“We are committed to prosecute those involved in the force-feeding crime, including doctors. The attempts to deprive prisoners of their last refuge to obtain their basic human rights to humane treatment through denying them their right to strike using their empty stomachs and body cells go too far with the degrading treatment against them. This is also an unjustifiable crime, and the world should not stand silent and not contribute to legalizing this crime through this silence.” Lawyer Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR.
It should be noted that the Israeli Knesset approved on 30 July 2015 a law “to Prevent Harm of Hunger Strike”, allowing force-feeding of prisoners.
At that time, the Israeli Medicine Association (IMA) rejected this law and warned of enacting it in addition to advising the associate doctors not to participate in any force-feeding process. Moreover, two United Nations human rights experts today reiterated their call on the Israeli authorities not enact such law, which legalizes force-feeding of prisoners.
The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment underlined that “feeding induced by threats, coercion, force or use of physical restraints of individuals, who have opted for the extreme recourse of a hunger strike to protest against their detention, are, even if intended for their benefit, tantamount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” Meanwhile, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health stressed, “Informed consent is an integral part in the realization of the right to health.”
Despite all of this, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected all the appeals filed by human rights organizations and IMA to annul this law. The Court claimed that the hunger striker does not enjoy the patients’ rights. This position proves the fact that PCHR has always emphasized that the Israeli Supreme Court is Israel’s atrocious means to legalize its crimes.
PCHR highlights that force-feeding is a war crime. Thus, those who order or participate in committing and legalizing it is involved in a war crime and should be held accountable and accordingly punished.
PCHR stresses that the attempts of force-feeding do not aim at maintaining the life of prisoners on hunger strike as claimed by the Israeli authorities, but aim at depriving them of their last means to demand their most basic human rights to proper detention conditions that maintain their dignity and humanity.
This was stipulated by Article (10-1) of ICCPR, “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.”
PCHR denounces the Israeli attempts to show the prisoners’ strike and demands as if they are political. PCHR emphasizes that prisoners’ cause and their humane demands are based on the most basic rights codified by the international humanitarian law, human rights conventions and all relevant intentional standards.
PCHR recalls that Israel has serious precedents in force-feeding. Many Palestinian prisoners were killed in cold blood while being force-fed.
PCHR calls upon the international community, particularly the European Union, to put an end to their silence towards the Israeli recurrent violations of international law that encouraged Israel to turn a blind eye to the law and international community.
PCHR underscores that Israel and international community, particularly Member States to the Convention against Torture, should take full responsibility for the risks and suffering of Palestinian prisoners if the Israeli Prison Service force-fed them.
PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to convene for identifying the legal status of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails in light of Palestine’s accession to these conventions.
PCHR also demands them to consider the Palestinian prisoners as prisoners of war who enjoy all rights guaranteed in the Third Geneva Convention, including releasing prisoners of war without delay after the cessation of active hostilities.
The Israeli media lately announced the Israeli government’s intention to recruit doctors from abroad to force-feed hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.
On 17 April 2017, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners started a hunger strike to pressurize the Israeli Prison Service in order to offer them proper detention conditions that respect their dignity and humanity.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) follows up with deep concern the arbitrary and inhuman measures practiced by the Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners since the very first day of their hunger strike.
These measures include but not limited to solitary confinement, threats, stress and finally the Israeli perpetrations to force-feed them. PCHR emphasizes that all the Israeli practices fall within the policy of torture as identified by Article 1 of the Convention against Torture.
PCHR stresses that it will work on prosecuting all those involved in force-feeding the prisoners on hunger strike by all available legal means.
PCHR also calls upon doctors syndicates all over the world to advice its associate members not to participate in any force-feeding process and publish a statement in this regard according to their governments’ obligations under Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Convention against Torture in addition to the peremptory International norms against torture that force-feeding is a form of which.
“We are committed to prosecute those involved in the force-feeding crime, including doctors. The attempts to deprive prisoners of their last refuge to obtain their basic human rights to humane treatment through denying them their right to strike using their empty stomachs and body cells go too far with the degrading treatment against them. This is also an unjustifiable crime, and the world should not stand silent and not contribute to legalizing this crime through this silence.” Lawyer Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR.
It should be noted that the Israeli Knesset approved on 30 July 2015 a law “to Prevent Harm of Hunger Strike”, allowing force-feeding of prisoners.
At that time, the Israeli Medicine Association (IMA) rejected this law and warned of enacting it in addition to advising the associate doctors not to participate in any force-feeding process. Moreover, two United Nations human rights experts today reiterated their call on the Israeli authorities not enact such law, which legalizes force-feeding of prisoners.
The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment underlined that “feeding induced by threats, coercion, force or use of physical restraints of individuals, who have opted for the extreme recourse of a hunger strike to protest against their detention, are, even if intended for their benefit, tantamount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” Meanwhile, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health stressed, “Informed consent is an integral part in the realization of the right to health.”
Despite all of this, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected all the appeals filed by human rights organizations and IMA to annul this law. The Court claimed that the hunger striker does not enjoy the patients’ rights. This position proves the fact that PCHR has always emphasized that the Israeli Supreme Court is Israel’s atrocious means to legalize its crimes.
PCHR highlights that force-feeding is a war crime. Thus, those who order or participate in committing and legalizing it is involved in a war crime and should be held accountable and accordingly punished.
PCHR stresses that the attempts of force-feeding do not aim at maintaining the life of prisoners on hunger strike as claimed by the Israeli authorities, but aim at depriving them of their last means to demand their most basic human rights to proper detention conditions that maintain their dignity and humanity.
This was stipulated by Article (10-1) of ICCPR, “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.”
PCHR denounces the Israeli attempts to show the prisoners’ strike and demands as if they are political. PCHR emphasizes that prisoners’ cause and their humane demands are based on the most basic rights codified by the international humanitarian law, human rights conventions and all relevant intentional standards.
PCHR recalls that Israel has serious precedents in force-feeding. Many Palestinian prisoners were killed in cold blood while being force-fed.
PCHR calls upon the international community, particularly the European Union, to put an end to their silence towards the Israeli recurrent violations of international law that encouraged Israel to turn a blind eye to the law and international community.
PCHR underscores that Israel and international community, particularly Member States to the Convention against Torture, should take full responsibility for the risks and suffering of Palestinian prisoners if the Israeli Prison Service force-fed them.
PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to convene for identifying the legal status of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails in light of Palestine’s accession to these conventions.
PCHR also demands them to consider the Palestinian prisoners as prisoners of war who enjoy all rights guaranteed in the Third Geneva Convention, including releasing prisoners of war without delay after the cessation of active hostilities.
17 apr 2017
Arab Organization for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) revealed Monday that Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails are being held under inhumane and tragic conditions as part of Israeli policies to deprive prisoners of all the rights they are entitled to under the terms of the Geneva Conventions.
According to the Organization, more than 6,500 Palestinians are currently being held at 22 Israeli jails, including 300 minors, and 62 women.
At least 500 of the prisoners are held under the provisions of the so-called “administrative detention”, it added, noting that more than 248 Palestinians have been administratively held since the start of 2017.
The Organization remarked that it was imperative that the issue of Palestinian prisoners be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) because all of Israel’s oppressive measures against prisoners constitute war crimes and fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC.
The failure of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to file a complaint with the ICC raises a lot of questions about its commitment to the cause, AOHR UK said.
The Organization also urged the international community to intervene with Israeli authorities to ensure prisoners’ demands are met and their rights as prisoners of war, as guaranteed by international conventions, are fully protected.
According to the Organization, more than 6,500 Palestinians are currently being held at 22 Israeli jails, including 300 minors, and 62 women.
At least 500 of the prisoners are held under the provisions of the so-called “administrative detention”, it added, noting that more than 248 Palestinians have been administratively held since the start of 2017.
The Organization remarked that it was imperative that the issue of Palestinian prisoners be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) because all of Israel’s oppressive measures against prisoners constitute war crimes and fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC.
The failure of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to file a complaint with the ICC raises a lot of questions about its commitment to the cause, AOHR UK said.
The Organization also urged the international community to intervene with Israeli authorities to ensure prisoners’ demands are met and their rights as prisoners of war, as guaranteed by international conventions, are fully protected.
12 apr 2017
Palestinian and Irish lawmakers have agreed on the need to prosecute Israeli leaders at international courts for committing war crimes against Palestinian citizens.
This came during a joint meeting held through Skype service on Tuesday between friends of Palestine at the Irish Parliament and Palestinian MPs from Gaza.
The two sides discussed Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians, including its blockade on Gaza, its apartheid policies and its daily violations against the holy sites.
During the online conversation, MP Mahmoud al-Zahhar, head of Hamas’s Change and Reform Parliamentary Bloc, highlighted the Palestinian people’s right to defend themselves and liberate the land and holy sites, affirming that “defending the rights cannot be terrorism as Israel claims.”
Zahhar hailed the Irish positions in support of the Palestinian cause and urged the MPs in Ireland to be ambassadors for the Palestinians and clarify their suffering from the occupation during their participation in international meetings and conferences.
For his part, MP Ahmed Bahar, first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the Palestinian people had made a lot of sacrifices in order to obtain freedom and independence.
Bahar applauded the meeting with Irish lawmakers and their support for the Palestinian cause.
For their part, members of the Irish Parliament expressed their ongoing support for the Palestinian people, especially those in Gaza and called for necessarily healing the rift in the Palestinian arena and restoring unity.
They emphasized the need to reach international courts through the UN to take legal action against Israel and reiterated their readiness to cooperate in this regard.
This came during a joint meeting held through Skype service on Tuesday between friends of Palestine at the Irish Parliament and Palestinian MPs from Gaza.
The two sides discussed Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians, including its blockade on Gaza, its apartheid policies and its daily violations against the holy sites.
During the online conversation, MP Mahmoud al-Zahhar, head of Hamas’s Change and Reform Parliamentary Bloc, highlighted the Palestinian people’s right to defend themselves and liberate the land and holy sites, affirming that “defending the rights cannot be terrorism as Israel claims.”
Zahhar hailed the Irish positions in support of the Palestinian cause and urged the MPs in Ireland to be ambassadors for the Palestinians and clarify their suffering from the occupation during their participation in international meetings and conferences.
For his part, MP Ahmed Bahar, first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the Palestinian people had made a lot of sacrifices in order to obtain freedom and independence.
Bahar applauded the meeting with Irish lawmakers and their support for the Palestinian cause.
For their part, members of the Irish Parliament expressed their ongoing support for the Palestinian people, especially those in Gaza and called for necessarily healing the rift in the Palestinian arena and restoring unity.
They emphasized the need to reach international courts through the UN to take legal action against Israel and reiterated their readiness to cooperate in this regard.
