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Recommendations

To the Government of Israel

All forces should be immediately ordered to uphold fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.  In particular, they must:

  • Distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives, and cease any deliberate targeting of civilians.

  • Cease all indiscriminate attacks, in particular indiscriminate bombardments against cities, towns, villages and other areas in which civilians are concentrated.

  • Scrupulously observe the principle of proportionality.  Cease launching any attack that may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof that would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

  • Immediately cease the use of cluster munitions in Lebanon until the dud rate can be reduced dramatically. If cluster munitions are employed, they should never be used in or near populated areas.

  • Never target humanitarian personnel, convoys and objects, or peacekeeping personnel, all of whom are entitled to the protections given to civilians.

  • Instruct all levels of government to cooperate with international investigations into violations of international humanitarian law, including the Commission of Inquiry proposed below.

To the United Nations

  • Human Rights Watch urges the Secretary-General of the United Nations to establish an International Commission of Inquiry to investigate reports of violations of international humanitarian law, including possible war crimes, in Lebanon and Israel and to formulate recommendations with a view to holding accountable those who violated the law.   The Commission of Inquiry (COI) should be headed by an internationally recognized, independent expert with direct experience investigating war-time compliance with international humanitarian law.  The COI’s team should include expertise in forensics, ballistics and weaponry, international humanitarian law, and other relevant disciplines.  The funding of the COI should be adequate to ensure its effective functioning.

    Given the urgency of the situation, the COI should present its interim findings to the Secretary-General as soon as possible.  The Secretary-General should present these findings and recommendations, as well as the COI’s final report, to the Security Council for further consideration and action.

To the Government of the United States

  • Immediately suspend transfers to Israel of arms, ammunition, and other materiel that have been documented or credibly alleged to have been used in violation of international humanitarian law in Lebanon, as well as funding or support for such materiel, pending an end to the violations.

  • Conduct a full investigation into Israel’s use of U.S.-supplied arms, ammunition, and other materiel in violations of international humanitarian law.

To the Government of the United Kingdom and other countries through which weapons, ammunition, or other military materiel may pass in transit to Israel

  • Do not permit the use of national territory for the transit or transshipment to Israel of arms, ammunition, or other materiel that have been documented or credibly alleged to have been used in violation of international humanitarian law in Lebanon, pending an end to the violations.4

  • Where they do not already exist, adopt and apply controls that require licenses for weapons transfers, as well as arms transit and arms brokering.  Make the issuance of licenses conditional on the ultimate recipient’s respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. Licenses should be denied in cases where the recipient engages in a pattern of gross abuses of human rights or serious violations of international humanitarian law or there otherwise is a clear risk the weapons will be misused in such a way.5

To Hezbollah

  • Cease all indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli cities, towns, villages and other areas in which civilians are concentrated as well as any deliberate targeting of civilians.

  • Make all feasible efforts to avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas and to remove civilian persons or objects under its control from the vicinity of military objectives.

  • Under no circumstance take advantage of the location of civilians or other persons protected under international law for the purpose of shielding a military objective from attack or to favor or impede military operations.

To the Governments of Syria and Iran

  • Do not permit transfers to Hezbollah of arms, ammunition, and other materiel that have been documented or credibly alleged to have been used in violation of international humanitarian law in Lebanon, as well as funding or support for such materiel, pending an end to the violations.




[4] Such a move is consistent with the obligation of States under Common Article 1 to the Geneva Conventions to “respect and ensure respect” for international humanitarian law, which confers a responsibility on third-party states to avoid action that would assist in violations by the parties to a conflict. States party to the Geneva Conventions agreed to make respect for international humanitarian law one of the fundamental criteria on which arms transfer decisions are assessed at the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 2003. A number of governments, including those that adhere to the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, have instruments in place to implement these commitments. The UK, along with other countries, supports the extension of the EU Code to cover arms transit and also changes to make the code binding. It should act accordingly as a matter of policy.

[5] See footnote 5, above.


<<previous  |  index  |  next>>August 2006