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Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law

Four independent human rights experts jointly called on Wednesday for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms which regulate the conduct of war.

The four Special Rapporteurs - independent experts advising the Human Rights Council in their personal capacities – were speaking at a press conference in Geneva today.

“We ask for one simple thing: compliance with international humanitarian law - it’s not charity, it’s an obligation,” said Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, speaking at a press conference at the United Nations in Geneva today. (Special Rapporteurs are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to fulfil advisory functions in their individual capacities.)

Citing the very high casualty figures among Palestinian civilians, as well as the blockages to humanitarian aid and the expansion of settlements, among a list of violations, Ms. Albanese questioned what she called the weak response from the UN Member States, even in the face of attacks on its own staff, premises, and representatives. “There are never sanctions on Israel - judicial processes are either ignored or circumvented, and trade continuous and diplomatic ties remain intact. Member States seem to be paralyzed or awestruck, many of them still normalizing the occupation,” Ms. Albanese said.

Ben Saul, the rights expert on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, said that “one of the striking features of the last 14 months is how Israel has used counterterrorism rhetoric to justify exceptional extreme violence against Palestinians, accompanied by a chronic dehumanization of the Palestinian people, which, of course, allows them to be killed, in large numbers — at the political level and also through the legal measures that Israel has taken.”

Mr. Saul pointed out that insufficient attention has been focused on what he described as “extreme” and non-standard legal interpretations of international humanitarian law and human rights law being applied by Israel to justify unprecedented levels of violence. “This last campaign, in Gaza, is unprecedented in the history of warfare in recent years,” Mr. Saul said, adding that includes “deliberate attacks on civilians, indiscriminate attacks, disproportionate attacks, starvation, denial of humanitarian relief, suppression of NGOs and UNRWA as “terrorists”, a complete lack of credible accountability through the Israeli military and civilian justice system.”

He explained that “Israel has enabled this violence by taking very extreme, exceptional interpretations of international humanitarian law to impose a kind of cloak of legality on what they're doing. So, they've expanded the definition of what is a military objective. They've expanded the category of people they call fighters who can be attacked. They’ve imposed very large numbers, on the civilian casualty counts, that they tolerate in targeting.”

Mr. Saul echoed the call for credible investigations, and an end to impunity, noting that most violations have “gone unchallenged by the States that matter and that can have a real influence to change Israel's behavior on the ground.” Mr. Saul pointed specifically to Germany and the United States, as suppliers of the great majority of Israel’s military hardware, as being countries that could use their influence to end many of these human rights violations.

Margaret Satterthwaite, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, stressed the role of international justice, particularly the International Criminal Court (ICC), in holding perpetrators accountable for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. She criticized the United States government for undermining the ICC with “outrageous” threats and stressed the need for international justice to be equitably applied to all.

“It’s time to end the double standards,” Ms. Satterthwaite said. “International justice exists or does not. We can't abide by justice for people from some States and the protection of the law for some people with impunity, for people from other States, and an abandonment of the resulting victims.”

George Katrougalos, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, echoed the concern for the broader consequences of impunity for the international order, warning that Israel’s actions risk creating a two-tiered system where some States are immune to consequences. “One of the ways that we have to put pressure upon governments to respect their legal obligations is by demonstrating our willingness to defend human rights and be against injustices,” he said, emphasizing that the current situation went far beyond legal issues. “We have, all of us, a moral responsibility.”

— ends —

OHCHR Press Conference: Human Rights in Gaza and OPT - 11 December 2024

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