Ref: 83/2012
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
participated in an international conference titled ‘Rethinking International
Law and Justice’, held on 24-25 September in Istanbul, and co-hosted by the
Istanbul Kültür University and the Australia-based Griffith University and
Queensland University of Technology.
The two-day conference brought together leading
international law scholars and was inaugurated by Prof. Mark Villiger, Judge at
the European Court of Human Rights, who delivered a keynote speech.
Mr Davide Tundo, a member of PCHR’s
International Unit, participated in the conference, delivering a presentation
titled ‘Justice and Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts through the
Enforcement of International Legal Obligations: The case of the Gaza Strip’.
Mr Tundo noted that
rethinking justice in international law firstly requires the acknowledgment of
the lack of enforcement of existing legal mechanisms – including the principle
of universal jurisdiction – to safeguard civilians, the “protected
persons” of international humanitarian law.
PCHR notes that the required respect for, and
enforcement of, international law is absent in the Israeli-Palestinian context.
This has led to an increasing cycle of violation and impunity and a devaluation
of the law, and it is the Palestinian civilian people who have paid the price.
Particularly in the Gaza Strip, the failure of the international community to
uphold the rule of law has resulted in the institutionalization of Israel’s
illegal closure of the Gaza Strip, which was tightened in mid-2007 and has
remained in place ever since. The culture of impunity has reached a peak – with
the complicity of the international community – as no individual member of the
Israeli civil and military authorities has been held to account for
international crimes committed in the context of ‘Operation Cast Lead’,
Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip, which took place from 27 December 2008 to
18 January 2009. As a result, civilian victims in Gaza have been deprived of
the equal protection of the law and their right to justice.
On Wednesday, 26 September, Mr Tundo met with
representatives of the Turkish legal team which is assisting Turkish civilian
victims of the attack on the ‘Mavi Marmara’ boat of 31 May 2010. The ‘Mavi
Marmara’ was part of the ’Gaza Freedom Flotilla’ humanitarian convoy, which was
attacked in international waters by Israeli special military forces while
sailing towards the Gaza Strip. The attack resulted in the death of nine
Turkish nationals and the injury of a further 50 civilian solidarity activists.
Additional human rights violations were carried out by the Israeli authorities
in this context, in particular, once the vessel and the civilian crew were in
Israeli locations and under Israeli authorities’ full control. Specific
examples included physical and verbal abuse amounting to inhumane treatment,
and deprivation of the right to defense and consular assistance.
Israel carried out an inquiry into the raid
which failed to meet the requirements of international law, and nobody involved
was prosecuted. On 28 May 2012, four senior Israeli military commanders were
indicted in Turkey for the killings of the nine Turkish nationals. The first
hearing of the criminal trial is scheduled to be held on 6 November in
Istanbul.
On behalf of PCHR’s Director, Mr Raji Sourani,
Mr Tundo congratulated the Turkish legal team for their work in support of
civilian victims of the ’Gaza Freedom Flotilla’. Participants in the meeting
further reviewed the state of criminal proceedings in Turkey, and explored
possible working relationships in light of their common objective of holding
Israeli officials accountable for human rights violations and the application
of the rule of law.
Further information on the international
conference, ‘Rethinking International Law and Justice’, is available at http://www.internationallawandjustice.com/.
