III. RECOMMENDATIONS
To the government of Israel:
· Carry out a full and impartial investigation into the violations of international humanitarian law documented in this report, make the results public, and bring to account anyone found responsible for wrongdoing. If war crimes are found to have been committed, institute immediate criminal proceedings.
· Declare unequivocally that Israeli security forces will respect and abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law, and uphold in all circumstances the principle of civilian immunity by taking all feasible precautions to protect civilians, discriminating between military targets and civilians, and ensuring access for medical and humanitarian assistance.
· Take immediate action to end any excessive, indiscriminate, and disproportional use of force by Israeli security forces that endangers civilians.
· Take immediate action to end the practice of using Palestinian civilians as human shields in IDF military operations, and hold accountable in disciplinary or criminal proceedings persons found responsible for ordering, condoning, or carrying out this practice.
· Cease immediately the coerced use of civilians to facilitate IDF military operations. Order all IDF personnel to halt these practices, disseminate this order throughout the IDF chain of command, and hold accountable those persons responsible for ordering, condoning, or carrying out these practices.
· Cease immediately the practice of using lethal force to enforce curfews.
· Ensure that the Palestinian population has access to an adequate level of health care, food, medical assistance, and other humanitarian goods and services essential to civilian life.
· Ensure that medical personnel and ambulances are able to carry out their duties and that patients are able to reach health-care facilities, by allowing both groups to move freely. Any restrictions on movement must not be excessive in impact or duration, be subject to regular review, and be imposed only when and to the extent that is absolutely necessary.
· Cooperate fully with the fact-finding mission established by the U.N. Security Council to investigate the events in Jenin.
· Facilitate the immediate deployment of international observers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with a mandate to monitor, verify, and report publicly on the compliance by all parties with international humanitarian law standards.
To the Palestinian Authority and armed Palestinian groups:
· Declare unequivocally that Palestinian security forces and members of armed groups will respect and abide by the principles of international humanitarian law, such as upholding in all circumstances the principle of civilian immunity, including by not targeting civilians through the deployment of suicide bombers or other means, whether in settlements or in Israel proper; by discriminating between military targets and civilians; and by ensuring access for medical and humanitarian assistance.
· Investigate all actions and policies that violate these principles and laws, make the results public, hold accountable persons found to have violated these principles and laws, and provide punishments or disciplinary measures that accord with the severity of these offenses.
· Cooperate fully with the fact-finding mission established by the U.N. Security Council to investigate the events in Jenin.
To the government of the United States:
· Request that the government of Israel take immediate steps to implement the above recommendations in both public and private communications.
· Support efforts to address human rights and international humanitarian law violations by all parties in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including the establishment of an international presence there whose responsibilities include monitoring, verifying, and reporting publicly and regularly on the compliance by all parties with international human rights and humanitarian law, and provide experts for such an international presence.
· Treat serious and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by any party as requiring immediate remedy, and ensure that enforcement of human rights and humanitarian law protections are not made subordinate to the outcomes of direct negotiations between the parties to the conflict.
· Seek written assurances from Israel that weapons of U.S. origin, including but not limited to Apache and Cobra helicopter gunships, D-9 armored bulldozers, and TOW anti-tank missiles, are not used to commit violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
· Conduct and make public the results of a comprehensive review of Israeli use of U.S.-origin weapons in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and update this review not less than every six months.
· Restrict Israel's use in the West Bank and Gaza Strip of any U.S.-origin weapons found to be used in the commission of systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
· Inform the government of Israel that continued U.S. military assistance requires that the government take clear and measurable steps to halt its security forces' serious and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These steps should include conducting transparent and impartial investigations into allegations of serious and systematic violations, making the results public, and holding accountable persons found responsible.
· Monitor and report publicly on the use of U.S.-origin donor resources to ensure that such resources do not support PA agencies or Palestinian groups responsible for serious and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
To the Member States of the European Union:
· Treat serious and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by any party as requiring immediate remedy, and ensure that enforcement of human rights and humanitarian law protections are not made subordinate to the outcomes of direct negotiations between the parties to the conflict.
· Develop and make public benchmarks for compliance by the government of Israel with international human rights and international law commitments as embedded in Article 2 of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement between the E.U. and its member states and Israel.
· Develop and make public benchmarks for compliance by the Palestinian Authority with international human rights and international law commitments as embedded in Article 2 of the Interim Association Agreement on trade and cooperation between the E.U. and its member states and the Palestinian Authority.
· Support efforts to address human rights and international humanitarian law violations by all parties in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including the establishment of an international presence there whose responsibilities include monitoring, verifying, and reporting publicly and regularly on the compliance by all parties with international human rights and international law, and provide experts for such an international presence.
· Seek written assurances from Israel that weapons originating with E.U. member states are not used to commit violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
· Conduct and make public the results of a comprehensive review of Israeli use of weapons originating with E.U. member states, and update this review not less than every six months.
· Implement the European Code of Conduct on Arms Exports and restrict transfer to Israel of weapons found to be used in the commission of serious and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
To the United Nations Security Council and Secretariat
· Ensure that the terms of reference of the fact-finding team appointed by the U.N. Secretary-General to investigate the situation in the Jenin refugee camp and endorsed in UNSC resolution 1405 include international human rights and international humanitarian law, and that the fact-finding team in compiling its report take into account all reliable and verifiable accounts of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
· Make the report of the fact-finding team public in a timely manner.
· Establish on an urgent basis a permanent international presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to monitor and report publicly and regularly on the compliance by all parties with international human rights and humanitarian law.
To the International Community
· Take immediate action, individually and jointly, to ensure respect for the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Conventions relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and Palestinian compliance with the law prohibiting attacks on civilians.
· Take steps, in accordance with paragraph 11 of the December 5, 2001 Declaration of the conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to arrange urgently for "the deployment of independent and imparial observers to monitor" Israeli and Palestinian compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention and other provisions of international humanitarian law.
|