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	Middle East : International Humanitarian Law Must Be Respected by ICRC / United Nations Lebanon, Israel & occupied Palestinian territory   7 August 2006   UN Sub-Commission voices ‘outrage’ at rights violations in Lebanon   The United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights today adopted a statement decrying the rights violations taking place in Lebanon and voicing hope that the Security Council will foster an end to the fighting and a lasting solution to the conflict.   The Geneva-based body said it was meeting “at a tragic moment when a brutal and barbarous war has already deprived a thousand men, women, and children of their inherent right to life, several thousands have been injured and maimed, and a million innocent people displaced.”   Citing its mandate to promote and protect respect for human rights, the Sub-Commission expressed its “deep grief and outrage at the massive denial and violation of human rights in Lebanon.   It also voiced hope that the Security Council “will bring about cessation of the war without further delay and promote an urgent settlement of the conflict in conformity with the principles of justice and international law.”   In another development today, four independent United Nations human rights experts have announced that the security situation in the Middle East has forced them to postpone a visit planned for today to Lebanon.   In a statement released in Geneva, the four experts, said they remain “extremely concerned about the impact of the continuing armed conflict on the human rights and humanitarian situation of the civilian populations of Lebanon and Israel.   3 August 2006 (UN News)   With global media attention focused on events in Lebanon, United Nations humanitarian agencies working in the occupied Palestinian territory today issued a statement sounding alarm about the ongoing fighting there and reminding all parties of their obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians.   “The United Nations humanitarian agencies working in the occupied Palestinian territory are deeply alarmed by the impact continuing violence is having on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, which has resulted in a sharp decline in the humanitarian situation facing 1.4 million people, more than half of them children,” said the joint statement.   “We are concerned that with international attention focusing on Lebanon, the tragedy in Gaza is being forgotten.”   Since 28 June, an estimated 175 Palestinians have been killed, including approximately 40 children and eight women, and over 620 injured in the Gaza Strip. One Israeli soldier has been killed and 25 Israelis have been injured, including 11 Israelis injured by home-made rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.   The statement pointed out that under international humanitarian law “all parties to the conflict are obliged to protect civilians during hostilities.” They must also “exercise precaution and respect the principle of proportionality in all military operations to prevent unnecessary suffering among the civilian population.”   The agencies point out that shelling sites with alleged military significance and killing civilians in the process, among them an increasing number of children, “cannot be justified.” They urge all parties to “bear in mind that international law demands accountability and that individual criminal responsibility may be engaged for violations of international humanitarian law.”   19 July 2006   UN rights chief calls for protection of civilians and accountability in Mideast crisis.   Expressing grave concern at the killing and maiming of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said today that the shelling of cities was an “unacceptable targeting of civilians,” and stressed that international law demands accountability.   The High Commissioner also emphasized that parties to any conflict have the obligation to exercise precaution and respect the principle of proportionality in all military operations so as to prevent unnecessary suffering among the civilian population.   “Indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable targeting of civilians. Similarly, the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable”, she said in a statement.   “International humanitarian law is clear on the supreme obligation to protect civilians during hostilities…International law demands accountability. The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control.”   Ms. Arbour also warned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation, in particular in southern Lebanon, where the population is reported to be increasingly deprived of access to basic services due to the violence.   “The situation in the south of Lebanon is alarming. A large and steadily increasing number of persons have been forcibly displaced. The most basic human rights of the population are at risk or are being violated, including their rights to life, health and food.”   She also added her voice to calls for unrestricted and secure passage of all humanitarian assistance, including rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers. According to the latest figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) around 500,000 people from Lebanon have been displaced by the recent violence.   19.07.2006   United Nations humanitarian officials today urged Israel, the Palestinians and Lebanese Hizbollah militants to refrain from disproportionate responses in the current renewed fighting, avoid attacking civilians, end rocket attacks and release immediately all kidnapped people.   UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland called for an end to rocket attacks, which have rained down on Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, and for all those kidnapped to be released.   UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour underscored Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s condemnation of all actions that target civilians, or which unduly endanger them due to their disproportionate or indiscriminate character, spokesman Jose-Luis Diaz told a news briefing in Geneva.   She noted that while Israel has legitimate security concerns, international humanitarian law requires that parties to a conflict refrain from attacks directed against civilian objects. They have an obligation to exercise precaution and respect the proportionality principle in all military operations so as to prevent unnecessary civilian suffering.   The prohibition on targeting civilians is also being violated by Hizbollah, Mr. Diaz said. Ms. Arbour called on those detaining the Israeli soldiers to secure their immediate and safe release, adding that this would be instrumental in bringing the current crisis to a halt.   19-07-2006     As civilians bear the brunt of the armed conflict, the ICRC steps up its humanitarian action in Lebanon   Geneva (ICRC)   One week after the start of the latest armed hostilities in Lebanon, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is extremely concerned about the grave consequences that military action is still having on the civilian population.   Hundreds of civilians have been killed or wounded, and it remains difficult to organize medical evacuations and to maintain health services. All across the country, large numbers of people are fleeing the conflict zones in dangerous circumstances. There has also been widespread destruction of public infrastructure.   “The first priority today is to ensure that the wounded and sick can be evacuated – that medical teams obtain access to the victims and can work safely,” said Pierre Krähenbühl, the ICRC’s director of operations. “We have reminded the Israeli authorities of their obligation under international humanitarian law to respect and protect medical personnel and their means of transport. We now expect improved access and security for medical teams.”   Mr Krähenbühl added that “the high number of civilian casualties and the extent of damage to essential public infrastructure raise serious questions regarding respect for the principle of proportionality in the conduct of hostilities.”   Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets into cities in northern Israel, killing and injuring civilians. The ICRC director of operations emphasized that Hezbollah fighters too are bound by the rules of international humanitarian law and that they must not target civilian areas.   The ICRC reminds the parties to the conflict that the obligation to distinguish between civilians and civilian objects, on the one hand, and military objectives, on the other, is at the core of international humanitarian law and must be complied with at all times. It further reminds the parties of their obligation to respect the principle of proportionality in all military operations so as to prevent unnecessary suffering among the civilian population. All necessary precautions must be taken to spare civilian life and objects and to ensure that the wounded have access to medical facilities.   July 2006   Lebanon/Israel: Do Not Attack Civilians. (Human Rights Watch)   Hezbollah and Israel must not under any circumstances attack civilians in Israel and Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on all sides to scrupulously respect the absolute prohibition against targeting civilians or carrying out attacks that indiscriminately harm civilians.   “Hezbollah and Israel must make protecting civilians the priority, and direct attacks only at military targets,” said Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch.     Human Rights Watch said that attacks on civilians, or acts to intimidate civilians, clearly violate international humanitarian law, and may constitute war crimes, even if carried out in reprisal for attacks by an adversary on one’s own civilians.   International humanitarian law requires that armed forces distinguish between combatants and civilians, and between military objects and civilian objects, at all times. It is also forbidden to carry out indiscriminate attacks or attacks that cause damage disproportionate to the anticipated concrete military advantage.
	Argentina: Court convicts "Dirty War" Torturer by Human Rights Watch Argentina   August 4, 2006   Argentina: Court Convicts ‘Dirty War’ Torturer. Decision Ends 20 Years of Impunity   The conviction of a former police official who brutally tortured detainees during Argentina’s “dirty war” (1976-1983) is a landmark victory for Argentine justice, Human Rights Watch said today.   A federal court in Buenos Aires sentenced Julio Héctor Simón to 25 years in prison for the illegal arrest and torture of José Poblete Roa and Gertrudis Hlaczik de Poblete, a Chilean/Argentine couple who “disappeared” after being detained in November 1978 and held at the “Olympus,” a secret detention center run by the federal police.   The court cited several aggravating circumstances in determining the sentence, among them that Simón concealed the fact that the couple’s eight-month-old daughter, Claudia, had been taken away and given for adoption to a police lieutenant and his wife, who concealed her true identity for 22 years.   “This sentence shows that democratic institutions can eventually overcome all the legal barriers erected to shield perpetrators of crimes against humanity,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Justice was finally done where it needed to be done – in Argentina itself.”   Simón, aka “Julian the Turk,” is the first individual to be convicted and sentenced for “disappearances” since the Argentine Supreme Court declared the “Full Stop” and “Due Obedience” laws unconstitutional in June 2005.   The so-called “impunity laws,” which blocked the prosecution of crimes committed under the country’s last military dictatorship, were enacted by President Raúl Alfonsín in 1986 and 1987 to appease the military. However, the theft of babies was excluded from the laws.   In October 2000, the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), an Argentine human rights group, petitioned Judge Gabriel Cavallo, who was investigating the theft of Claudia Poblete from her mother, to declare the impunity laws unconstitutional. In March 2001, Cavallo invalidated the laws and charged the officers for the crimes committed against the couple.   The Federal Appeals Court upheld the ruling unanimously the following November, and the Supreme Court ratified it three-and-a-half years later.   President Néstor Kirchner has consistently backed the pursuit of justice for “dirty war” crimes, and in August 2003 the Argentine Congress struck down the laws, thus paving the way to the end of impunity.
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