Judge Goldstone Defends Gaza Inquiry Alleging Israeli War Crimes

In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council held a one-day debate Tuesday on a recent inquiry finding Israel committed a number of war crimes in its assault on the Gaza Strip. The head of the inquiry, Judge Richard Goldstone, said all but one of the individual Israeli attacks examined by investigators had no military purpose.

Judge Richard Goldstone: “We detail a number of specific incidents in which Israeli forces launched direct attacks against civilians with lethal consequences. These were, with only one exception, where the facts establish that there was no military objective or advantage that could justify the attacks.”

Around 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attack, most of them civilians. Goldstone rejected Israel’s claim that it was targeting “terrorist infrastructure” in Gaza.

Judge Richard Goldstone: “If ‘infrastructure’ were to be understood in that way and become a justifiable military objective, it would completely subvert the whole purpose of international humanitarian law built up over the last hundred years and more. It would make civilians and civilian buildings justifiable targets. These attacks amounted to reprisals and collective punishment and constitute war crimes.”

Goldstone’s report also accuses Palestinian fighters of committing war crimes in firing rockets at nearby Israeli towns and urges both sides to conduct investigations or face prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/30/headlines

A Letter to the International Criminal Court

Here is a letter I recently wrote to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asking that criminal charges be brought against George W Bush and Richard Cheney:

Sirs:

I write to you as a concerned citizen of the United States of America. Our republic and the world at large have been and continue to be endangered by the administrations of George W Bush and Richard Cheney.

According the recent report by the International Red Cross, the 'enhanced interrogation techniques' practiced by the CIA and the US military and approved at the highest levels of the Bush government make them subject to prosecution as war criminals.

In direct violation of the United Nation Charter and International Law, the US government under the leadership of George W Bush and Richard Cheney invaded a member nation of the UN, Iraq, under the most dubious of pretexts, over-threw the recognized government and continues to occupy the country after 5 years and with violent, brutal force subjugate the populace. The war has devastated the country in every category of assessment and left upward of one million Iraqi men, women and children dead. (Based on the estimate reported in the Lancet last year. http://www.thelancet.com/webfiles/images/journals/lancet/s0140673606694919.pdf )

These are just two of what many believe to be among numerous criminal acts for which George W Bush, Richard Cheney and other top-ranking members of their administration should rightfully be charged as war criminals.

In the name of justice and for the good of the world, I beseech the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to bring charges against the people who are serving or have served in the Bush/Cheney administrations - including George W Bush and Richard Cheney - who are responsible for the kidnapping and torture of individuals and the murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people as reported and documented by innumerable, verifiable sources.

In my most humble opinion, to fail to do so will undermine and irreparably damage the noble concept of rule of law and serve to encourage endless war.

Most Respectfully,

etc, etc

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/18/AR2005111802397.html

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