August 6, 2009

Recommendations

Cease all rocket attacks that target civilians or are fired into civilian areas with rockets that cannot discriminate between military objectives and civilians;
Prevent, as the governing authority in the Gaza Strip, other armed groups from launching such rocket attacks;
Publicly repudiate attacks on Israeli civilians or civilian objects, and the argument that such attacks are permissible when carried out in reprisal for Israeli attacks that harm Palestinian civilians;
Provide clear guidelines and training to all commanders and fighters to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law against attacks that target or indiscriminately harm civilians;
Cease conducting attacks from locations near populated areas in Gaza in violation of international humanitarian law requiring all feasible precautions to protect civilians from the effects of attacks, and avoid locating military objectives in densely populated areas;
Conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the alleged violations of international humanitarian law documented in this report, including by persons working for or affiliated with Hamas-run security forces or militia, make the investigation results public and prosecute those considered responsible for war crimes in trials respecting international standards; and
Give full consideration to the findings and recommendations of the final report produced by the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Gaza fact-finding mission.

Use all relevant UN fora, including the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly and the Security Council, to insist that Hamas and Israel conduct transparent and impartial investigations into allegations of serious laws-of-war violations during the recent hostilities in Gaza and Israel, make the results public and prosecute those considered responsible for war crimes in trials respecting international standards;
Use all relevant UN fora, including the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly and the Security Council, to urge Hamas and Israel to duly consider the findings and recommendations of the Human Rights Council’s Gaza fact-finding mission;
Use the September session of the UN Human Rights Council to establish a dedicated UN mechanism that would monitor and report on efforts by all parties to transparently and impartially investigate allegations of serious laws-of-war violations committed during the recent hostilities in Gaza and Israel; and
In the event the national authorities are unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute through fair trials those considered responsible for war crimes committed during the recent hostilities in Gaza and Israel, press for the use of international prosecutions.