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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September1, 2011
FREE GAZA MOVEMENT ON THE URIBE/PALMERREPORT
On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos brutally attacked
FreedomFlotilla 1, killing eight Turkish and one American passenger
on boardthe Mavi Marmara, most having been killed at close
range,execution style. They injured more than 50 other passengers,
bothon the Mavi Marmara and on the other four boats sailing to
theembattled territory of Gaza to bring the attention of the world
toIsraels illegal blockade of 1.6 million Palestinians. Not only
were ourpassengers murdered and maimed, but the Israeli government
hasrefused to return over $1 million in money and equipment,
includingcameras and videos which are of evidential value.
In the 15 months since Israels unwarranted attack on five
boatscarrying human rights watchers, Israel has been trying to spin
thestory that their well-armed soldiers were the victims and we
werethe aggressors. Several reports have already been written,
mostsquarely blaming Israel for its attack on unarmed
civilians.
The UN Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission took
evidencefrom 112 eyewitnesses, reviewed forensic evidence,
includingautopsy reports and inspected the Mavi. It found that,
because ahumanitarian crisis exists in Gaza, Israel's blockade is
unlawful andcannot be sustained in law. This is so regardless of
the grounds on
which one seeks to justify the legality of the blockade. The
reportfound that Israels blockade is collective punishment and in
violationof article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, inflicting
civiliandamage disproportionate to any military advantage.
Therefore,since Freedom Flotilla 1 neither presented an imminent
threat toIsrael nor was designed to contribute to any war effort
againstIsrael, intercepting the flotilla was clearly unlawful and
couldnot be justified as self-defense.
Israel refused to cooperate with this UN fact-finding panel
eventhough the United Nations and governments all around the
world
called for just such an independent investigation of the
events.
Instead, the Israeli government set up its own
investigatorypanel, The Turkel Commission, led by Israeli retired
Supreme CourtJudge Jacob Turkel and three other Israelis, who
issued a report on January 23, 2011 exonerating the commandos, then
saying theblockade was legal. The commission did not interview a
singlepassenger or crew member from any of the boats but only
receivedtestimony from the Israeli military.
On January 28, 2011, Amnesty International condemned the
Turkelfindings as no more than a whitewash. Despite being nearly
300
pages long, the report crucially fails to explain how the
activists died
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and what conclusions the Commission reached regarding the
IDFsspecific actions in each case.
http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/013/2011/en/96e848bd-56ee-4e6e-a817-17e07c3d5192/mde150132011en.html
Free Gaza shares Amnesty International's analysis that the
conflictbetween the Israeli armed forces and unarmed civilians was
NOTarmed conflict, making international humanitarian law (IHL)
thewrong framework; international human rights law and
lawenforcement norms should have been applied, which would havemade
the use of force and especially lethal force an act of
lastresort.
Now there is the Palmer/Uribe report due to be releasedtoday,
which apparently adopts the same faulty IHL framework.
According to Audrey Bomse, Board member and Legal Adviser to
Free Gaza: If the leaks we've heard from Israeli officials
arecorrect, the holes in this report are big enough to sail a
flotilla ofships through. There are serious problems with the
Panelscomposition, mandate and legal analysis. But most disturbing
of allis the fact that the Secretary GeneralsPanel apparently
condones Israels gross violations of the humanand national rights
of the Palestinian people and the rights of thosein solidarity with
them.
The Panel has four members, one from Israel and one from
Turkey,plus Geoffrey Palmer, former prime minister of New Zealand
and ex-
president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe. The choice of Uribe as
vice-chairman is suspect, given his intimate association with the
militaryand paramilitary practice of murdering civilians in
Colombia. ThePanel was only tasked to review the reports of the
nationalinvestigations by Turkey and Israel (the Turkel Committee),
not toconduct an in-depth objective investigation. Its ultimate
goal was topositively affect the relationship between Turkey and
Israel.
International humanitarian law (IHL, the law of armed conflict)
is thewrong legal framework to be used as the basis for judging
thelawfulness of the actions taken by Israel both against the
civilian
population of Gaza (the blockade) and against those resisting
theboarding of the MM. The conflict between the Israeli navy
andunarmed civilians on the Mavi Marmara was not armed
conflict.International human rights law and law enforcement norms
shouldhave been applied, which would have made the use of force
andespecially lethal force an act of last resort. Nor should the
legalityof the blockade of occupied Gaza be analyzed in the
framework ofthe law of armed conflict.
If indeed the Uribe Rport has concluded that the Israeli
navalblockade on Gaza - a serious measure of war - is legal and
in
accordance with international law, then this Report will
contradictnumerous other UN reports and resolutions, most recently
that of
http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/013/2011/en/96e848bd-56ee-4e6e-a817-17e07c3d5192/mde150132011en.htmlhttp://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/013/2011/en/96e848bd-56ee-4e6e-a817-17e07c3d5192/mde150132011en.htmlhttp://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/013/2011/en/96e848bd-56ee-4e6e-a817-17e07c3d5192/mde150132011en.htmlhttp://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/013/2011/en/96e848bd-56ee-4e6e-a817-17e07c3d5192/mde150132011en.html
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the Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission, on the issue of
thelegality of the Gaza siege.
As the Human Rights Council FactFinding Mission observed,
publicconfidence in any investigative process ... is not enhanced
when thesubject of the investigation either investigates himself or
plays apivotal role in the process.
Contact: Audrey Bomse
+44(0)78615610932,[email protected] Arraf
+970-598-336-215, [email protected] Berlin +1 310 422
7242, [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
