Resolution passes,
despite US opposition, as body approves official inquiry into "all
violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights
law"
The United States was the only country in the world that voted Wednesday against the
United Nations investigating human rights violations in Gaza unleashed by
Israel's military assault.
Of the
47 members of the UN Human Rights Council, 29 nations voted to set up a
commission to launch an international, independent inquiry, effectively passing
the resolution. Seventeen countries abstained, including Germany, France, and
the United Kingdom.
The
inquiry will look at "all violations of international humanitarian law and
international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Gaza Strip in the context of military
operations conducted since mid June," according to a statement from
the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The council criticized
Israeli military operations for perpetuating “widespread, systematic and gross
violations of international human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
U.S.
ambassador to the Council, Keith Harper, said he issued the "no" vote
because the resolution is a "biased and political instrument" that
"will not help" the "cessation of hostilities."
But
Josh Ruebner, policy director for the U.S.
Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, toldCommon Dreams that the U.S. vote simply "shows
the great extent to which the U.S. goes to protect Israel in international
forums from any accountability for its actions, no matter how egregious."
Ruebner added that U.S. claims of imbalance are illegitimate, as the inquiry
will investigate human rights violations perpetrated by Hamas as well as
Israel.
Phyllis
Bennis, senior fellow at Institute
for Policy Studies, told Common
Dreams that the U.S.
"no" vote is part of a larger pattern. "The U.S. is the reason
why the United Nations is not able to play the role its charter requires, which
is to stop the scourge of war," said Bennis. "The U.S. vetoes and
threatens to veto in the Security Council, and in arenas like the General
Assembly or Human Rights Council where there is no veto, they threaten other
countries."
The UN resolution comes amid an ever-rising Palestinian death
toll, with Gaza Health Ministry official Ashraf al-Qudra reporting
Thursday that so far
784 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,000 wounded in Israel's
"Protective Edge" operation. Kyung-Wha Kang, Assistant
Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Deputy Emergency Relief
Coordinator, estimates that 74 percent of the Palestinians killed are civilians
and one-third are children. "One child has been killed each hour in Gaza
over the past two days,” Kang said on Wednesday, according to the UN.
Israel
launched air strikes on Palestinians seeking shelter in a UN school in Beit
Hanoun in Gaza on Thursday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens. The
attack marked at least the fourth time a UN facility in Gaza has been hit since
July 8, according to theGuardian. Chris
Gunness, spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency, said on Twitter that "Precise
co-ordinates of the UNRWA shelter in Beit Hanoun had been formally given to the
Israeli army."
Thirty-two
Israeli soldiers, two Israeli civilians, and a Thai worker in Israel have died.
Ruebner
expressed concern that the U.S. is likely to obstruct any attempt on the part
of the Council to hold Israel accountable for war crimes: "What's likely
to happen is same thing with the Goldstone Report and the Human Rights Council
inquiry into the attack on the aid flotilla: reports will document the fact
that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the U.S.
will use its veto power or threat thereof to prevent the international
community from acting on recommendations for accountability."
