Ref:74/2010

From the 5 to the 9 October 2010 the
Director of PCHR, Mr. Raji Sourani, participates in the NGO strategy meeting
organised by the Hauser Center of the Harvard University, which is hosted at
the Rockefeller Foundation Conference Center of Bellagio, Italy.

This high profile meeting is
bringing together for the first time leaders of prominent local NGOs from seven
countries affected by the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity or
genocide, which are currently under preliminary examination by the Office of
the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Directors of FIDH, Human Rights
Watch and Open Society Institute Justice Initiative are also participating in
the conference, which is personally attended by Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo, the
Prosecutor of the ICC, and the head situation analysis of its Office, Mr.
Emeric Rogier.

The 4-days meeting provides a unique
opportunity to thoroughly discuss and develop legal strategies to strengthen
efforts both at the local and international level to overcome the impunity
crisis that is affecting the countries under examination by the ICC:
Afghanistan, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Palestine, Georgia, Guinea and Kenya.

During his presentation Mr. Sourani
stressed again the urgent need for the ICC to formally open its investigation
on the Palestinian situation. No alternatives are at hand in this regard, since
the domestic judicial system is either not willing (by the Israeli side) or not
able (by the Palestinian side) to deal with the commission of such grave
crimes. Palestinian victims have no forum to hear their complaints and restore
justice. This reality was once again documented by the very recent report of UN
Committee of Experts mandated to assess the state of the domestic legal
proceedings undertaken following the “Goldstone Report”, which was presented to
the UN Human Rights Council on 27 September 2010.

Mr. Sourani highlighted how the
unbearable situation of Palestine and of Gaza in particular, where innocent
civilians continue to be killed and collectively punished in a climate of
general impunity, is the result of the political unwillingness to respect and
ensure respect for the rule of law by the international community. Despite the
over-documented war crimes committed against the Palestinian population over
the entire course of the Israeli military occupation, and its brutal escalation
during the last year’s offensive, the mechanisms of international justice are
still not properly working.

The ICC Prosecutor reaffirmed his
commitment to do everything possible and within the legal framework of the ICC
Statute to put an end to such grave crimes and impunity crisis. He stated that
the Court has still to satisfy itself that it has jurisdiction over the
situation in Palestine, but he acknowledged the receipt of a great deal of
legal arguments in this regard.

He invited and encouraged NGOs to
continue to submit evidence and materials related to alleged crimes committed,
including precise information to identify their alleged perpetrators.