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	Amnesty International accuses Hezbollah and Israel of War Crimes by The Independent / BBC News / AFP Middle East   Geneva. October 04, 2006   UN faults both sides for “serious violations” in war, by Agence France Presse (AFP)   Israel committed serious violations of human rights during its offensive in Lebanon, but Hizbullah must also be called to account for its actions, which could constitute war crimes, four United Nations experts said on Tuesday. In a report on their September 7-14 fact-finding mission to the region, the four experts took Israel to task for "serious violations of both human rights and humanitarian law."   "Available information strongly indicates that, in many instances, Israel violated its legal obligations to distinguish between military and civilian objectives," they said.   Hizbullah was also to blame for, "in many instances," violating humanitarian rules by targeting the civilian population of northern Israel.   They said that Hizbullah''s extensive use of rockets packed with ball bearings "constitutes a clear violation of humanitarian law," they said.   The four experts are: the UN secretary general''s representative on internally displaced persons, Walter Kaelin; the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston; the special rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health, Paul Hunt; and the special rapporteur on housing, Miloon Kothari.   They are due to submit a report to the 47 member states of the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday.   September 28, 2006   Israeli Group calls Gaza power plant attack a "War Crime", by Donald Macintyre. (The Independent / UK)   The air strike on Gaza"s only power station that has left most residents with half their normal electricity supply three months later was a war crime, according to the Israeli human rights group B"tselem.   A 34-page report says the cuts in power are: harming health care; drastically limiting water supplies to three hours a day; plunging sew-age treatment to near crisis levels; limiting the mobility of high-rise dwellers by halting lifts; and threatening residents with food poisoning because of interruptions to refrigeration.   The report, entitled Act of Vengeance, says the cuts in power have also seriously disrupted small businesses in Gaza, deepening an economic crisis already far worse than that faced by Gaza"s 1.3 million residents at the peak of the Palestinian uprising three years ago.   B"tselem says the Israeli missile strike, which disabled the US-insured power station by destroying six transformers three days after the abduction of the Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit by Gaza militants, is in breach of international law because it deliberately targeted a "civilian object".   The agency says Article 54(2) of the Geneva Protocol states that: "It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population." Article 52 of the protocol says lawful attacks are limited to, "military objects", defined as those, "whose total or partial destruction... offers a definite military advantage".   Arguing that no such advantage resulted from the strike, B"tselem says the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) supported the strike on the power station and three bridges in the Gaza Strip on 28 June by saying that, "the actions are intended to make it difficult and to disrupt the activity of the terror infrastructure related directly and indirectly to the abduction of Cpl Gilad Shalit".   After B"tselem wrote to Israel"s Defence Minister about the strikes an official wrote back on behalfof the Judge Advocate General"s office saying that "the infrastructure targets... assist the illegal activity of the terror organisations in the Gaza Strip".   The B"tselem report says: "The fact that both the IDF spokesperson and the Judge Advocate General took special care not to mention how the attack on the power plant, or power stoppages resulting from it, would "disrupt the activity of the terror infrastructure" or the "launching of Qassam rockets at Israeli communities" speaks for itself."   B"tselem adds that it is still waiting for a reply to a request of the Judge Advocate General to explain the connection. The agency says even if the "doubtful" claim that the attack provided a military advantage, the attack breached international law by being disproportionate.   B"taselem wants Israel to prosecute those responsible for ordering the strike, to fund rehabilitation of the plant, to upgrade electricity supplies from Israel and allow compensatory claims by Gaza"s residents.   14 September 2006   Amnesty International has accused Hezbollah of acts amounting to war crimes in the conflict with Israel.   The group said Hezbollah deliberately targeted civilians with rockets in the 34-day war - a "serious violation of international humanitarian law".   An earlier Amnesty report accused Israel of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in Lebanon.   Amnesty again urged a UN inquiry into violations by both sides.   The latest Amnesty report said: "Hezbollah"s rocket attacks on northern Israel amounted to deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects, as well as indiscriminate attacks, both war crimes under international law."   It said Hezbollah had fired nearly 4,000 rockets into northern Israel, killing 43 civilians and forcing tens of thousands to flee.   Amnesty said Sheikh Nasrallah did a U-turn on civilian targeting. It noted that although Hezbollah had said its policy was not to target civilians, its leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said the policy was changed in reprisal for Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilian areas.   It quoted Sheikh Nasrallah as saying: "As long as the enemy undertakes its aggression without limits or red lines, we will also respond without limits or red lines."   Amnesty said Israel"s violations could in no way justify Hezbollah"s actions.   Amnesty International"s Secretary General, Irene Khan, said: "Civilians must not be made to pay the price for unlawful conduct on either side."   Amnesty repeated its call for "a comprehensive, independent and impartial inquiry" by the UN into the violations and to ensure there was "full reparation" to victims.   It said those responsible for civilian suffering were "escaping all accountability".   Ms Khan said: "Justice is urgently needed if respect for the rules of war is ever to be taken seriously."   Amnesty"s report on 23 August said Israel had targeted homes, bridges, roads and water and fuel plants as an "integral part" of its strategy. It said Israeli claims of "collateral damage" were "simply not credible".   Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel"s actions during the war were "in accordance with recognised norms of behaviour during conflicts and with relevant international law".   About 1,000 Lebanese, mainly civilians, died in the fighting, while 161 Israelis, mainly soldiers, were killed.   Israel launched its offensive after Hezbollah militants seized two of its soldiers and killed several others during a cross-border raid on 12 July.   Jerusalem. September 15, 2006   Amnesty damns Hezbollah attacks, by Ed O"Loughlin. (The Age)   Amnesty International has accused the Hezbollah guerilla movement of war crimes for targeting Israeli citizens with rockets during the 34-day Israel-Lebanon war.   Thousands of Hezbollah rockets were fired across the border into northern Israel, killing 43 civilians. Tens of thousands more fled to safety further south.   Amnesty accused the Shiite militant group of deliberately failing to distinguish between civilian and military targets, and of wrongfully seeking to justify its barrage by claiming to be retaliating for Israel"s attacks on Lebanese civilians.   Amnesty and several other human rights groups have already accused Israel of war crimes over an air and artillery bombardment that Amnesty said killed "some 1000" Lebanese civilians. It called on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to set up an international investigation into the conduct of both sides in the conflict.   "The fact that Israel in its attacks in Lebanon also committed violations of international humanitarian law amounting to war crimes … is not an acceptable justification for Hezbollah violating the rules of war, whether as a deterrent or as a means of retaliation or retribution," Amnesty said.   The Israeli newspaper Ha"aretz says Israeli gunners fired rockets and shells containing more than a million cluster bomblets at targets inside Lebanon, including civilian villages, despite the chance of up to 40 per cent of them failing to detonate and remaining deadly for years.   "The cluster bomb is not a banned weapon, but it is described as an "indiscriminate weapon, which should not be used against targets in civilian areas because, inter alia, it continues to kill once the war is over," the paper said. "Since the ceasefire went into effect, 12 Lebanese civilians have been killed by duds that exploded unexpectedly."   The paper quoted an unnamed artillery officer who said he had complained to the Defence Ministry about the way in which the weapons were used, but had received no reply.   "In Lebanon, we covered entire villages with cluster bombs. What we did there was crazy and monstrous," the officer reportedly said.   The newspaper also reported that Israeli gunners used phosphorous weapons to start fires in south Lebanon.   The Israeli Defence Force said neither cluster bombs nor phosphorous shells were banned under international law.   It denied targeting civilians and said its bombardment was designed to prevent Hezbollah from firing into Israel.
	Rights Groups deplore Pakistan Rape Law Compromise by Reuters Pakistan   12 September 2006   ISLAMABAD - Pakistani women’s activists deplored on Tuesday a government decision to give in to religious conservatives opposed to the amendment of Islamic laws dealing with rape and adultery.   The laws, which make a rape victim liable to prosecution for adultery if she can not produce four male witnesses, were introduced in 1979 by military ruler Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq and have drawn widespread criticism both at home and abroad.   Human rights campaigners have long pressed for the repeal of the laws, known as the Hudood Ordinances, but nevertheless welcomed government efforts to amend them, including taking rape out of the sphere of religious law.   But an opposition alliance of religious parties objected to the changes, saying they were a danger to society, and threatened to withdraw from the national and provincial parliaments if they were passed.   In the face of the protests, the government said on Monday it was accepting three of the conservatives’ demands, including one keeping rape under the Islamic law, although it will also be a crime under the penal code.   The government also accepted adultery being made a crime under the penal code, subject to up to five years in prison.   It has also agreed to a catch-all clause stating injunctions in the Koran and Sunnah, the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad, would have effect “notwithstanding anything contained in any other law”.   Rights activists said the concessions would water down the impact of the changes and would be confusing, with rape and adultery being crimes under both Islamic law and the penal code.   Asma Jahangir, chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said the clause relating to injunctions in the Koran and Sunnah was open-ended and could make the amended law more severe than the original.   “Last night was the nail in the coffin,” Jahangir said.   “The amendment made yesterday would be worse than the present draft ... It has the potential of making it far worse not better, it’s open-ended.”   “They have hoodwinked women into believing that this is a law for the protection of women. It is a law for the protection of religious extremists,” she said.   A draft of the new amendment bill is due to be presented to parliament on Wednesday.   Controversy over the laws reflects divisions in Pakistani society where a small class of urban liberals is often at odds with conservative, religious groups.   President Pervez Musharraf, who promotes an ideology of ”enlightened moderation”, had earlier assured rights activists he would back any moves to amend or repeal the laws.   But rights workers accused the government of pandering to the religious parties.   “The government is trying its best to placate the mullahs,” said I.A. Rehman, director of the HRCP, referring to Muslim preachers.   Memona Rauf Khan of the Women’s Action Forum said the effort to amend the laws had come at a bad time for the government, which perhaps explained why it had given way.   The fractious opposition united last month to mount an unsuccessful no-confidence challenge and the killing of a rebel leader in Baluchistan province by security forces was widely condemned.   “They might have been stronger if they had not done that,” Khan said.   Musharraf left on Monday for visits to Europe and the United States where he is bound to face questions about the plight of women in his overwhelmingly Muslim country.
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