NGO Monitor Submission to Goldstone Follow-up Committee
NGO Monitor Submission to the UN Human Rights Council Committee of Independent Experts Pursuant to HRC Resolution 13/9
Abstract
“I have sufficient confidence in the Israel’s legal system to conduct [] investigation[s],” – Richard Goldstone
As a vibrant parliamentary democracy, located in a hostile region and faced with asymmetric war directed at its citizens, Israel faces significant challenges, including the need to balance competing rights and legal claims. Despite this complex difficulty, Israel has faced many disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks on its good faith efforts to uphold human rights while protecting against on-going terror and military strikes. Unfortunately, these complexities were not taken into account by the UN Human Rights Council Fact Finding Mission on the Conflict in Gaza led by Richard Goldstone, as noted by many prominent scholars.
Since the issuance of the Goldstone report and in order to bolster its one-sided conclusions and recommendations, many organizations claiming to promote human rights and humanitarian objectives, have initiated a series of campaigns to discredit the Israeli justice system and to paint Israel as a rogue state in order to bolster politicized attempts to have Israeli officials arrested and tried in European capitals and to support the opening of an investigation against Israel at the International Criminal Court. Much of this campaigning has been directed towards the Goldstone Follow-up committee. NGO Monitor has prepared this submission to provide background information and context that may not be known to the Committee. We hope that this information will aid the Committee in preparing its report.
