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Goldstone
report: Statement issued by members of UN mission on Gaza war

Statement issued by Ms Hina Jilani, Professor Christine Chinkins
and Colonel Desmond Travers, members of the UN fact-finding mission to Gaza, May-September 2009

In recent days some
articles and comments appearing in the press with respect to the report of
the United Nations (UN) fact-finding mission on
the Gaza conflict of 2008-2009 have misrepresented facts in
an attempt to delegitimise the findings of this report and to cast doubts on
its credibility.

The
mission that comprised four members, including Justice Richard Goldstone as its
chair, came to an end when it presented its report to the UN human rights
council in September 2009. The report of the mission is now an official UN
document and all actions taken pursuant to its findings and recommendations
fall solely within the purview of the United Nations general assembly which,
along with the human rights council, reviewed and endorsed it at the end of
2009.

Aspersions
cast on the findings of the report, nevertheless, cannot be left unchallenged.
Members of the mission, signatories to this statement, find it necessary to
dispel any impression that subsequent developments have rendered any part of
the mission’s report unsubstantiated, erroneous or inaccurate.

We
concur in our view that there is no justification for any demand or expectation
for reconsideration of the report as nothing of substance has appeared that
would in any way change the context, findings or conclusions of that report
with respect to any of the parties to the Gaza
conflict. Indeed, there is no UN procedure or precedent to that effect.

The
report of the fact-finding mission contains the conclusions made after
diligent, independent and objective consideration of the information related to
the events within our mandate, and careful assessment of its reliability and
credibility. We firmly stand by these conclusions.

Also,
it is the prerogative of the UN to take cognisance of any evidence subsequently
gathered under domestic procedures that it finds credible and in accordance
with international standards. Over 18 months after publication of the report,
however, we are very far from reaching that point.

The
mandate of the mission did not require it to conduct a judicial or even a
quasi-judicial investigation. Like all reports of similar missions of the UN,
it provided the basis for parties to conduct investigations for gathering of
evidence, as required by international law, and, if so warranted, prosecution
of individuals who ordered, planned or carried out international crimes.

In
the case of the Gaza
conflict, we believe that both parties held responsible in this respect, have
yet to establish a convincing basis for any claims that contradict the findings
of the mission’s report.

The
report recommended that proper investigations and judicial processes should
ideally be carried out first of all at the domestic level, with monitoring by
the UN. If these proved inadequate, it laid down a roadmap for the continuation
of such processes at the international level. In line with these
recommendations, the UN human rights council appointed a committee of
independent experts to monitor the independence, effectiveness and genuineness
of any domestic proceedings carried out to investigate crimes and violations of
international law pointed out in the mission’s report.

Many
of those calling for the nullification of our report imply that the final
report by the follow-up committee’s two members, Judge Mary McGowan Davies and
Judge Lennart Aspergren, presented to the human rights council in March 2011,
somehow contradicts the fact-finding mission’s report or invalidates it.

In the light of the
observations of this committee such claims are completely misplaced, and a
clear distortion of their findings. The committee’s report states that,
according to available information, Israel has conducted some 400 command investigations
into allegations by the fact-finding mission and other organisations. Command
investigations are operational, not legal, inquiries and are conducted by
personnel from the same command structure as those under investigation. Out of
these, the committee reports that 52 criminal investigations into allegations
of wrongdoings have been opened. Of these, three have been submitted for
prosecution, with two of them resulting in convictions (one for theft of a
credit card, resulting in a sentence of seven months’ imprisonment, and another
for using a Palestinian child as a human shield, which resulted in a suspended
sentence of three months). The third case, related to allegations of deliberate
targeting of an individual waving a white flag, is still ongoing.

The
committee has expressed serious concerns about the late start and slow pace of
the proceedings, their insufficient transparency and the participation of
victims and witnesses. Out of the 36 incidents relating to Gaza described in the fact-finding mission
report, more than one third remain unresolved or without a clear status over
two years after the conflict. The committee concluded that the slow progress
could seriously impair the effectiveness of the investigations and prospects of
achieving justice and accountability. Therefore, the mechanisms that are being
used by the Israeli authorities to investigate the incidents are proving
inadequate to genuinely ascertain the facts and any ensuing legal
responsibility.

In
addition, with regard to the issue of the policies guiding Operation Cast Lead,
the committee states that there is “no indication that Israel has
opened investigations into the actions of those who designed, planned, ordered
and oversaw Operation Cast Lead”. In other words, one of the most serious
allegations about the conduct of Israel’s military operations
remains completely unaddressed.

We
regret that no domestic investigations at all have been started into any of the
allegations of international crimes committed by members of Palestinian armed
groups in Gaza which have fired thousands of rockets
into southern Israel.
The committee observes the same in its report.

We
consider that calls to reconsider or even retract the report, as well as
attempts at misrepresenting its nature and purpose, disregard the right of
victims, Palestinian and Israeli, to truth and justice. They also ignore the
responsibility of the relevant parties under international law to conduct
prompt, thorough, effective and independent investigations. We regret the
personal attacks and the extraordinary pressure placed on members of the
fact-finding mission since we began our work in May 2009. This campaign has
been clearly aimed at undermining the integrity of the report and its authors.
Had we given in to pressures from any quarter to sanitise our conclusions, we
would be doing a serious injustice to the hundreds of innocent civilians killed
during the Gaza
conflict, the thousands injured, and the hundreds of thousands whose lives
continue to be deeply affected by the conflict and the blockade.

The
report has triggered a process that is still under way and should continue
until justice is done and respect for international human rights and
humanitarian law by everyone is ensured.

Hina Jilani

Christine Chinkin

Desmond Travers

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