The Electronic Intifada - Factsheets - The Israeli invasion of Palestinian towns in March/April 2002: Human rights perspectives

The Israeli invasion of Palestinian towns in March/April 2002: Human rights perspectives

Compiled by Molly Klein, 9 April 2002.

Sami Mshasha, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA):

9 April 2002 -- "If field reports we are getting are accurate, we have a humanitarian disaster unseen before in the West Bank."

Source: Sami Mshasha, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) quoted in "Refugees trapped in the frontline", by Wael al-Ahmad, The Guardian (UK), 9 April 2002.

Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General:

5 April 2002 -- "Responding to terrorism does not free Israel of its obligations under international law. Self-defense is not a blank check."

Source: Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General quoted in "M. Sharon ignore les mises en demeure des Etats-Unis et de l'ONU", Le Monde (France), 5 April 2002.

Mark Neuman, Amnesty International:

7 April 2002 -- "Ladies and Gentlemen, civilian suffering is not inevitable in a time of war or occupation. Ordinary people should never become the target of those with arms. All our organizations have witnessed, documented, and reported a wanton disregard for the right to life over the past eighteen months. Such abuse must stop now. Those who commit such crimes must cease them. And the international community is morally, and legally, obliged to act to ensure respect for such basic humanitarian principles."

Source: Israel and Occupied Territories: Joint Statement in the Name of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists, 7 April 2002. Neuman is Program Director of Campaigns and Crisis Response, International Secretariat, Amnesty International.

7 April 2002 -- "It's time for the international community to act, as it has moral and legal obligations under international law. There can be no future unless human rights are the center of the process."

Source: Mark Neuman, Amnesty International, at press conference, LAW press release, 7 April 2002.

Peter Hansen, Commissioner General, United Nations Relief and Works Agency:

7 April 2002 -- "The Israeli Defense Force has made a hellish battleground among the civilians in the Bata and Jenin refugee camps. We are getting reports of pure horror -- that helicopters are strafing civilian residential areas; that systematic shelling by tanks has created hundreds of wounded; that bulldozers are razing refugee homes to the ground and that food and medicine will soon run out. In the name of human decency the Israeli forces must allow our ambulances safe passage to evacuate the wounded and deliver emergency supplies of medicines and food.

"Israel is a signatory to International conventions that protect non-combatants in times of conflict. Those conventions are worthless if they are not adhered to precisely at the times of greatest blood-letting. The world is watching an Israel needs to end this pitiless assault on civilian refugee camps."

Source: United Nations Relief And Works Agency (UNRWA) Press release End the horror in the camps, 7 April 2002.

Richard Cook, director of UNRWA operations in the West Bank:

7 April 2002 -- "A humanitarian disaster is in the making in the West Bank camps. There has been an alarming loss of life."

Source: United Nations Relief And Works Agency (UNRWA) Press release End the horror in the camps, 7 April 2002.

Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:

2 April 2002 -- "The situation in the Occupied Territories is well known to us all. I say to you simply but with all the force I can: I call you to conscience. I invite you to let conscience move in this situation taking place before our very eyes."

Source: Statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the 58th session of the Commission on Human Rights, 2 April 2002

Hanny Megally, Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch:

3 April 2002 -- "It doesn't matter whether you call it resistance, self-defense, or a war against terror. No political or security objective can justify targeting and punishing the civilian population of an adversary."

Source: Human Rights Watch press release, 3 April 2002.

International Committee of the Red Cross:

2 April 2002 -- "The ICRC and the International Federation have cause to regret the frequent and often serious instances in which medical personnel were prevented from performing their life saving dutiesÉ. In this context, the ICRC urgently and solemnly appeals to all those employing armed force to respect international humanitarian law, and in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian persons in Time of War of 1949 and the rules governing the conduct of hostilities.

Notably: forces and persons involved in the conduct of hostilities must take all necessary precautions to spare civilians and civilian property, to treat detained persons humanely at all times, to ensure that the wounded and sick have access to adequate medical facilities, that medical staff and means of transport may function unhampered. Also, the sanctity of all places of worship has to be respected by all forces. Terrorist acts, such as suicide bombings, are absolutely and unconditionally prohibited as are acts of reprisals, indiscriminate attacks and attacks directed against the civilian population."

Source: Middle East: A solemn appeal by the International Committee of the Red Cross & the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Committee of the Red Cross press release, 2 April 2002.

5 April 2002 -- "Because of the near-total restriction of movement imposed de facto by the Israeli authorities on ICRC and PRCS vehicles, only a fraction of calls for help can be answered. For the ICRC, there is little doubt that this has resulted in unnecessary deaths.

The ICRC strongly protests against the wilful and unacceptable destruction on 3 April of six PRCS ambulances and one ICRC Landcruiser by Israeli tanks in Tulkarem and Bethlehem. In all situations of conflict and violence, the ability to deliver medical and other assistance is a prerequisite for humanitarian action, and it is a source of grave concern that the Palestinian population should be deprived of such basic services."

Source: Israel and the occupied /autonomous territories: Alarming situation in the West Bank, International Committee of the Red Cross press release, 5 April 2002.

5 April 2002 --"Following security incidents involving Israel Defense Forces soldiers and directed at Red Cross staff, and attacks on its vehicles and premises, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been obliged to limit its movements in the West Bank to a strict minimum.

Several incidents have led to today's decision. Over the past two days, ICRC staff in Bethlehem have been threatened at gunpoint, warning shots have been fired at ICRC vehicles in Nablus and Ramallah, two ICRC vehicles have been damaged by Israeli tanks in Tulkarem and the ICRC premises in Tulkarem have been broken into.

Such conduct is totally unacceptable, for it jeopardizes not only the life-saving work of emergency medical services but also the ICRC's other humanitarian activities."

Source: Israel and the occupied /autonomous territories: ICRC restricts its movements in the West Bank, International Committee of the Red Cross press release, 5 April 2002.

Robert Ménard, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF):

7 April 2002 -- "The Israeli army is knowingly targetting journalists in a deliberate policy of intimidation."

Source: Robert Ménard, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), at press conference, 7 April 2002. LAW press release.

Ann Cooper, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ):

1 April 2002 -- "Barring journalists from conflict areas constitutes censorship. Although Ramallah is indeed a dangerous place, journalists are there because they have a duty to cover this important story. We are deeply disturbed by Israel's evident desire to prevent journalists from witnessing its current activities on the West Bank. CPJ calls on all parties to the conflict to permit media access to conflict areas and to fulfill their responsibility to safeguard journalists in the field."

Source: Israel bars press from Ramallah; several journalists wounded by gunfire, CPJ press release, 1 April 2002.

B'Tselem:

8 April 2002 -- "B'Tselem... said it had learned from a "credible source" that in the Ofer detention camp near Ramallah, Palestinians were "submitted to torture, including the breaking of toes. These were not a case of isolated incidents," a spokesman for the NGO told Le Monde."

Source: "Sous 'un feu d'enfer', le camp de Jénine refuse de se rendre", Le Monde, 8 April 2002. [Original text: "B'Tselem dit aussi avoir appris "de source fiable" que, dans le camp de rétention d'Ofer, près de Ramallah, les Palestiniens seraient "soumis à des tortures, y compris le bris des os des doigts de pied. Il ne s'agit pas de cas individuels isolés", a déclaré au Monde un porte-parole de l'ONG."]

Terje Roed Larsen, UN Special Coordinator and Nigel Roberts, World Bank Director:

4 April 2002 -- "We are gravely concerned by the recent escalation in the conflict, which threatens to consign to history the unique opportunity for conciliation which the international donor community has pursued so vigorously since 1993. We are very disturbed by the life-threatening conditions under which the Palestinian civilian population is currently living, as well as the continuous deconstruction of the Palestinian economy over the past 18 months. The damage to livelihoods, infrastructure and organizational capacity runs counter to any serious pursuit of peace and securityÉ.

The donors are a vital part of the political process. They have invested some US$4.5 billion of taxpayers' money in the West Bank and Gaza since 1993. This has gone mainly towards building viable institutions, and for the infrastructure of peace - to roads, water systems, electricity networks, schools and hospitals - assets that are now being damaged or destroyed. This is a matter of tremendous concern to the international community.

We believe that immediate priority should be given to the following:

First, civilians on both sides must be protected from harm, as per the obligations on all parties under international law;

Second, it is crucial that full mobility be granted to humanitarian workers, and that curfews be lifted to permit citizens to have access to medical care, food and water;

Third, destruction of valuable capital infrastructure provided to the Palestinian people by the international community should cease; "

Source: Joint Statement by Terje Roed Larsen, UN Special Coordinator and Nigel Roberts, the World Bank Director, West Bank & Gaza, 4 April 2002.

Oxfam:

8 April 2002 -- "The conflict in Palestine and Israel spirals to alarming levels of violence and destruction. A cruel toll is being paid by ordinary Palestinian and Israeli civilians. We are extremely concerned that the full extent of the humanitarian situation is being overlooked, and that the international community is failing in its duty to promote the provisions of the Geneva Conventions which assure the protection of civilians in the conflict. We call upon the European Union and its member states, the United States, Canada and other governments to take a more explicit and direct role in condemning the gross violations of international humanitarian law, and in advocating for the delivery of immediate life-saving support to civilian populations."

Source: An Urgent Call to Address the Human Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Oxfam Briefing Note, 8 April 2002 [PDF format].