EU must take strong measures to ensure that Israel follows international law
The EMHRN (Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network) strongly condemns the fatal and destructive attacks by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip which cause immense losses among its civilian population. The EMHRN calls upon the EU to immediately take all measures at its disposal to stop the intolerable and unprecedented human rights violations and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Attention:
Mr Karel Schwarzenberg, President of the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
Mr Javier Solana, High Representative for the CFSP Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union
Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations European Commission / DG RELEX
9 January 2009
The EMHRN (Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network) strongly condemns the fatal and destructive attacks by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip which cause immense losses among its civilian population.
More than 700 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians, have so far been killed and at least 3000 wounded in the Gaza Strip since December 27 - among them scores of women and children. Israeli air strikes continue to be launched in a reckless manner, hitting schools, mosques, hospitals, ambulances, UN shelters for displaced civilians and densely populated areas. The ground offensive, supported by artillery, further endangers the lives and safety of civilians. Meanwhile, Palestinian armed groups continue to launch rocket attacks on civilian targets in southern Israel, claiming victims among the civilian population.
Neither the duty of a state to protect its citizens nor the right of people to resist a blockade or to obtain its independence justifies deliberate attacks against civilians, and the EMHRN condemns any such attacks.
The Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip represent severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law, both in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war. The Israeli attacks continue to reveal a disproportionate use of military force, and by aiming its attacks at civilian areas in one of the most crowded stretches of land in the world, Israel directly targets civilians in violation of the fundamental international humanitarian law principles of distinction, proportionality, military necessity and precautions in attacks.
The Israeli military attacks occur in a context of a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions, caused by the 18 months Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip following Hamas' take-over of the Gaza Strip. The blockade, constituting a collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians in violation of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, has resulted in a critical shortage of food, medicine and most of the necessities to sustain life in Gaza. The blockade has also left the medical facilities incapable of meeting the needs of the thousands of wounded. This situation has led to an increased number of deaths.
Even with fighting continuing, Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law to provide and facilitate humanitarian assistance to civilians and must fulfill these immediately. Instead, Israel has been actively blocking essential medicine, food, fuel, and electricity in violation of its duties as an Occupying Power. According to the ICRC, Israel has failed to undertake its obligation to assist injured amidst conflict, leaving civilians to bleed to death, and children on the verge of starvation next to their dead mothers and other relatives for days. Israel has not even allowed for independent humanitarian agencies to aid these civilians.
The EMHRN wishes to underline the devastating effects of this dramatic situation. Denying the Palestinian people its rights strengthens, in a negative manner, the regimes in the least democratic region of the world. It strengthens people in their belief that the law is not equal for everyone. It causes hatred and resentment and prevents any progress towards peace, democracy and development.
The EMHRN recalls that a just and durable peace founded on international law requires, as a precondition, the Israeli withdrawal from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the complete and immediate freezing of all settlement activities, the lifting of Israeli restrictions on the movement of goods and people, and the reopening of the boarder crossings to the Gaza Strip.
The EMHRN calls upon the EU to immediately take all measures at its disposal to stop the intolerable and unprecedented human rights violations and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. We call upon the EU Member States as High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in the Time of War, to fulfill their obligations under the Convention without delay and thus to ensure protection for Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
In this regard, the EMHRN calls upon the EU to uphold fundamental European principles and maximize the attention given to the diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the current crisis. This should entail suspending the current EU-Israel upgrade process - and if this proves to have no effect, to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement itself (which unequivocally commits Israel to respect human rights and democratic principles) - until:
a) A full, complete and permanent ceasefire has been implemented by all parties, Israel provides and facilitates unimpeded humanitarian assistance throughout the Gaza Strip and fully withdraws its troops from the Gaza Strip, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1860 of 9 January 2009.
b) Israel respects its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including its responsibilities as an Occupying Power of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (leading to immediate, concrete and substantial improvements of the human rights situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in relation to the Palestinian minority in Israel).
Only thus can the EU make it publically clear that partnership with the EU must be linked to respect in practice for human rights and international law.
We also urge the EU to include mechanisms in all current and future agreements with Israel that will effectively ensure adequate monitoring of Israel's compliance with its obligations under international law - obligations that must ultimately lead to the end of the Israeli occupation and the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people in accordance with international law, including relevant resolutions of the United Nations.
