Ref: 55/2006
Date: 12 November 2006
Sourani in the Conference of Scandinavian Bar Associations:
“International Humanitarian Law Is Not for the Intelligentsia or Academics, But for Civilians;
The Palestinian People Need Effective International Protection”
Upon an invitation from the Swedish Bar Association, Mr. Raji Dourani, Director of PCHR, delivered a speech at the annual conference of Scandinavian bar associations, which include lawyers and judges from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. Mr. Sourani’s speech focused the democratic experience in Palestine, and international humanitarian law and the Palestinian – Israeli conflict.
In his speech, Mr. Sourani briefed the attendants on the distinguished experience of institutional and democratic construction in Palestine, emphasizing that the Palestinian people have a large stockpile of civilization, democracy, pluralism and civil society groups. He highlighted the peaceful and legal transition of authority following the death of President Yasser Arafat at the levels of both the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian National Authority, and how President Mahmoud Abbas was elected as his successor during the period decided by the law to hold Palestinian democratic elections. Mr. Sourani further talked about local and parliamentary elections, pointing out that these elections were held under Palestinian agreement and Palestinian, Arab and international observation, which impressed the world for the levels of organizations and democracy. He asserted that Europe, through its political performance that followed the Palestinian elections, undermined the principles of democracy and the rule of law, when they boycotted the Palestinian government and punished the Palestinian people for their free will and electing Hamas. He pointed out that accepting the results of elections in advance is a precondition of elections, and explained how the European position negatively impacted all democratic forces in the region. He called upon Scandinavian lawyers and judges to struggle to bring this European position back to the right track. Mr. Sourani further warned that the position towards the Palestinian elections could be a prelude for the democracy of masters instead of the democracy of slaves, stressing that the Palestinian people are free people who practiced democracy under occupation and laudably succeeded in three electoral experiences in only one year.
Mr. Sourani asserted that the Palestinian judiciary is independent and that its problem lies in the lack of the political will. He explained PCHR’s position towards Palestinian state security courts, the misuse of weapons and the abduction of international as a phenomenon which is strange from the Palestinian political culture. Mr. Sourani concluded the first part of his speech stressing the need to distinguish between terrorism and resistance, and emphasizing that the Palestinian people have right, and even the duty, to struggle against the occupation to end it. He condemned any act against civilians, stressing that there is no divine and non-divine blood, that we are not required to be good victims and that resistance is a right and a duty of the Palestinian people as prescribed by international instruments.
At the Israeli level, Mr. Sourani expressed his anger that the world paid attention only when a massacre was committed in Beit Hanoun on 10 November 2006; Israeli Occupation Forces fired artillery shells at civilian houses, killing 19 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children and 8 women, and that no one talked about the 6 days that preceded this massacre, when 63 Palestinians, most of them were civilians, were killed, and at least 280 others, including many women and children, were wounded. These attacks were similar to other attacks in Gaza City, Beit Lahia, al-Maghazi, al-Boreij, Khan Yunis and Rafah. Mr. Sourani gave examples of flagrant Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians, including the attacks on the families of Abu Silmiya, Ghaben, Ghalia and Hajjaj.
At another level, Sourani discussed the crisis of the Israeli soldier who was captured by a Palestinian resistance group on 25 June 2006, stressing that he is a prisoner of war who was captured from his tank during an armed clash with the Palestinian resistance in an Israeli military post inside the Gaza Strip. Mr. Sourani quoted the speech of Professor John Dugard, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, that it is a classical status of a prisoner of war. Mr. Spourani asserted that PCHR does not defend soldiers, resistance activists nor militants, rather it defends Palestinian civilians who are the constant target of the Israeli aggression. He indicated that Israel has since the capture of the Israeli soldier destroyed the Palestinian electricity generation plant, many houses, many civilian buildings (such as the buildings of the office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), roads and bridges; has imposed a total siege; has committed extra-judicial executions; and has invaded Palestinian towns, villages and refugee camp. Mr. Sourani asserted that the current situation has been the worst since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in June 1967.
Mr. Sourani also talked about the Judaization and ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem and the Israeli disregard for the Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice. He also referred to the abduction of democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people.
Furthermore, Mr. Sourani criticized the Israeli Bar Association for its silence towards various issues, such as torture of Palestinian detainees, unlawful transfer, collective punishment, house demolition, arrests and other crimes. He called upon Scandinavian bar associations to take a clear position towards the Israeli Bar Association.
Mr. Sourani talked about the role of the Israeli High Court in providing a legal cover for crimes committed by IOF, such as torture of Palestinian detainees and the construction of the Annexation Wall.
Mr. Sourani concluded that the Palestinian people want the rule of law and that the Fourth Geneva Convention must be applied to the OPT. He further emphasized that:
· The Swiss government, the depository of the Convention, should call upon the High Contacting Parties to the Convention to provide protection for the Palestinian people.
· A conference organized by PCHR will call upon the High Contracting Parties to task a strong international protection force within the 4 June 1967 borders.
· The civil society should stop its silence and be armed with the rule of law.
Mr. Sourani asserted that the international humanitarian law is not for the intelligentsia and academics, a fact concluded following the two world wars that killed dozens of millions of Europeans and led to calls for providing protection of civilians. The Palestinian – Israeli conflict is not an exception, Mr. Sourani stressed, and providing protection for Palestinian civilians is a legal obligation on the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention that is not subject to an Israeli agreement.
It is worth noting that the international community tasked in response to Israel’s demand a strong international protection force comprised of 15,000 soldiers following its 34-day war on Lebanon, while the Palestinian people have demanded protection for long years.
Mr. Sourani warned that depriving the Palestinian people of international protection would not make them a good victim, rather it may bring triumph for the law of jungles in the whole region.
Mr. Sourani added that the conference organized by PCHR, in partnership with the International Federation for Human Rights; Palestinian, Arab and international human rights organizations, activists and lawyers; international legal experts; academics; and European parliamentarians, would unleash a strong moral voice that may help mobilize the international community in this regard.
During his visit to Stockholm, Mr. Sourani met with a number of officials from the Swedish Foreign Ministry, the director of Olof Palme, and judges and lawyers from the International Commission of Jurists – Sweden, in which Mr. Sourani is a Commissioner and a member. Mr. Sourani also met with staff members of the Internal National Legal Consortium, in which PCHR is a member.
At the end of the conferences, the Swedish Bar Association honored Mr. Sourani with dinner at its headquarters and a symbolic present.
