Goldstone follow-up committee meets with NGOs
In August 2010, members of a committee chosen by the UN Human Rights Council to follow up on the September 2009 Goldstone Report met with NGOs in Gaza, including the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al Mezan. PCHR prepared a report “Genuinely Unwilling: An Update, The Failure of Israel’s Investigative and Judicial System to Comply with the Requirements of International Law, with particular regard to the Crimes Committed during the Offensive on the Gaza Strip (27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009)” in advance of the UN committee’s visit. The report contained numerous factual and legal errors, including an inaccurate and misleading translation of Israeli case law. 1
Al Mezan “presented the Centre’s experiences and observations regarding the Israeli investigations into suspected war crimes” and volunteered to arrange meetings for the Committee with “victims and eyewitnesses.” PCHR provided the committee with an explanation of the “inherent flaws within the Israeli system which render the pursuit of justice for Palestinian victims impossible” and emphasized the need to turn to “mechanisms of international criminal justice.” These presentations further illustrate the close links between the political NGOs and the UNHRC, which is dominated by the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Footnotes
- On page 38 of its report, PCHR purports to quote from Israeli High Court of Justice case “5699/07, Jane Doe (A) v. The Attorney General (decision delivered on 26 February 2008), para. 10”. Yet, PCHR’s translation differs significantly from the original text.