Rights group urges UN to evaluate Gaza probe

NEW YORK - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon should provide an analytic, evaluative report on Israeli and Hamas investigations into alleged laws-of-war violations during the Gaza conflict, as requested by the General Assembly, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the UN chief made public Wednesday
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the report, due by February 5, 2010, should go beyond a restatement of the parties claims about their investigations and instead critically assess whether the investigations have been credible and independent.
Secretary-General Ban should resist taking the easy way out by simply repeating what Israel and Hamas tell him about their investigations, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. Only a critical evaluation of what they have or have not done will help end the impunity that is a major impediment to peace.
In a resolution adopted on November 5, 2009, the General Assembly called on Israel and Hamas to undertake within three months independent, credible investigations, in conformity with international standards, into serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by Israel and Hamas documented by the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.
The report, named after the South African jurist and former UN human rights investigator Richard Goldstone who headed the investigation, accused both sides of war crimes in last winters fighting, but came down hardest on Israel. The fighting in December 2008 and January 2009 between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group controlling Gaza, resulted in 14 Israeli deaths but more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed.
The resolution also asked the secretary-general to report back to the General Assembly on implementation of the resolution within three months.
The resolution calling for the secretary-generals report passed by a vote of 114 to 18, with 44 abstentions.
In his letter, Roth commended Ban for speaking out forcefully in favour of accountability in the Gaza conflict.
We hope that Secretary-General Ban follows his strong words on justice with action, Roth said. An objective, analytical report from his office that critically assesses the Israeli and Hamas investigations will promote the justice that is so desperately needed to end this conflict.