Rights group outraged at Ban for dragging war crimes issue

Ma'an
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said "No determination can be made on the implementation of the resolution by the parties concerned," during the meeting of the General Assembly on Thursday, prompting an outcry from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

Ban made the statement, PCHR said, "despite the fact that Resolution A/Res/61/10 explicitly called for the Secretary-General to 'report on the implementation of the present resolution'."

The organization, based in Gaza, continued, saying "As representatives of the victims of the atrocities committed during the Israeli attacks on Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009, PCHR is shocked and appalled by this lack of responsibility."

Ban's statements came after Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the de facto Government in Gaza all handed over short reports detailing alleged progress on investigations into Justice Richard Goldstone's allegations of war crimes uncovered during his summer fact-finding mission.

Israel celebrates UN 'support'

Shortly after Ban delivered his address, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak claimed that "Ban Ki-Moon was very impressed by the presentations given in UN by the military advocate general and even mentioned this to me personally," the Israeli daily Yedioth Aharanot reported...

In its report released Friday afternoon, PCHR stated, however, that "investigations carried out by Israeli authorities do not, in any way, fulfill the demands of customary international law, the Goldstone Report, or UN General Assembly Resolution A/Res/64/10."......

PA, de facto governments also criticized

Criticism from PCHR extended to the PA and de facto government........

In light of the failures of all three governments, PCHR recommenced that "the General Assembly should request the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, to refer the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory to the International Criminal Court."

....... On Monday, Israeli media reported that Israeli findings compounded allegations that white phosphorus munitions were deployed toward an UNRWA compound in Gaza during last year's devastating offensive, with two senior officers being disciplined as a result of authorizing the use of white phosphorus.....

...Political commentator Alan Dershowitz slammed Goldstone in an interview with the Israeli Army Radio dubbing him a traitor to the Jewish people on Sunday. "The Goldstone report is a defamation written by an evil, evil man," he said...   Full story