GAZA, February 17, 2010 (WAFA)- Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) demanded that Israel be held to account for consistent violations of international law, regarding its war on Gaza
I n a submission to the 13th session of the UN Human Rights Council, PCHR recommended that The best interests of the victims and the primacy of international law demand that Israel, including responsible individuals, be held to account for consistent violations of international law – including grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and crimes against humanity – and for the failure to investigate such violations.
Consequent to all Parties genuine unwillingness or inability to conduct effective investigations,PCHR also recommended that it is imperative that recourse be had to mechanisms of international justice.
It said that the Human Rights Council must demand that the UN Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, refer the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) to the International Criminal Court. “Each individual State of the international community must also concurrently exercise their obligation to carry out investigations and prosecutions before their own national courts, in accordance with the legal principle of universal jurisdiction. The Council must demand that the rule of law is enforced.”
