Rights group condemns failure to probe 2006 war crimes
Amnesty calls for arms embargo on both Israel, Hizbollah
12 July 2007

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=83758

BEIRUT: A London-based human rights group condemned on Wednesday Israel, Lebanon and the international community for failing to investigate evidence of war crimes and violations during the July-August war of 2006, almost a year after a UN cease-fire resolution ended the conflict.

Amnesty International also repeated calls for a full, impartial UN-led inquiry into the war and a compensation plan for victims.

The war claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians. In Israel, 158 were reported killed, including 43 civilians.

Israel's use of cluster bombs, the majority of which were dropped in the last 72 hours of the conflict, was also widely condemned by foreign countries and rights groups, prompting some countries to ban their use.

Following the passage of UN Resolution 1701, which achieved a cessation of hostilities on August 14, 2006, the UN estimated more than a million cluster bombs dropped by Israel were spread across the South.

The United Nations Mine Action Coordination Center has identified 922 sites over which unexploded lethal remnants of cluster bombs are scattered. Fully clearing the bombs is expected to take another year or more.

According to the mines center, 32 people - 24 civilians and eight de-miners - were killed and 210 people were wounded by unexploded ordnance in South Lebanon in the 10-months between the end of the war and June 20, 2007.

The Amnesty International report accused Hizbullah of using civilian houses as cover to fire rockets at Israel. The war started after Hizbullah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

"The total lack of political will to hold to account those responsible for the indiscriminate killing of civilians, more than one thousand of whom lost their lives, is both a gross betrayal of the victims and a recipe for possible further civilian bloodshed with impunity," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa program.

Israeli forces killed many noncombatant Lebanese inside their homes and shelters in South Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Other noncombatants were killed as they fled heavily bombed villages and neighborhoods.

Amnesty International published last year three investigative reports in which it said it found evidence to violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, committed by both Israel and Hizbullah fighters.

The human rights watchdog said that as a result of "patent unwillingness" by all concerned parties, it called on the UN "to establish a comprehensive, impartial and independent inquiry" to both investigate the evidence of violations and compensate the victims.

"However, the international community has lacked the political will to take the necessary steps to set up such an inquiry," Amnesty International (AI) said.

AI added the decision to set up an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri proved that "when there is a political will, the mechanisms for establishing the truth can be created despite the opposition of some of the concerned parties."

The report accused the UN Security Council of leaving the Lebanese, Israeli and other victims of the war without recourse to justice.

The human rights organization also criticized Israel's post-facto investigation of the war because, the report said, the probe was limited to military strategies and did not tackle violations of international humanitarian law. 

In Lebanon, no official investigation at all has been carried out. An inquiry appointed by the UN Human Rights Council was given a one-sided mandate, focusing only on evidence of violations by Israeli forces, AI said. 

AI also urged the Jewish state to hand over maps detailing the areas where cluster bombs were dropped. "These are vital to assist bomb clearance and avoid further casualties," said Smart.

The organization further called on the Israeli government to impose a moratorium on the use of all cluster weapons.

"The Security Council should declare and enforce an arms embargo on both Israel and Hizbullah until effective mechanisms are in place to ensure that weapons will not be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law," said Smart.

AI also urged Hizbullah to provide information about the two Israeli soldiers its fighters captured on July 12 and to allow them immediate access to the International Committee of the Red Cross. - The Daily Star