<html>
<body>
<font size=4><b>Rights council adopts Gaza report <br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>Friday, October 16, 2009 <br>
18:16 Mecca time, 15:16 GMT <br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/10/2009101610455533672.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/10/2009101610455533672.html<br>
<br>
</a>The UN human rights council has endorsed the Goldstone report on
Israel's war on Gaza, which accuses the military of using
disproportionate force as well as laying charges of war crimes on Israeli
occupation forces and Hamas.<br><br>
The council's resolution adopting the report was passed in Geneva by 25
votes to six with 11 countries abstaining and five declining to
vote.<br><br>
The inquiry, lead by Justice Richard Goldstone, calls on Ban Ki-moon, the
UN secretary-general, to monitor whether Israel and Hamas conduct
credible investigations into the conflict which took place last
winter.<br><br>
Should the two sides fail to do so, it calls on the UN Security Council
to refer the allegations to the International Criminal Court.<br><br>
<b>Hamas 'thankful'<br><br>
</b>The Palestinian Authority had initially agreed to defer a vote on the
UN-sanctioned report, but later backtracked under heavy
criticism.<br><br>
<b>In depth</b> <br><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2009/1/22/200912295744150734_9.jpg" width=160 height=50 alt="[]">
<br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/200910518212141766.html#">
Video: Anger at Abbas</a><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/09/200991517204625339.html">
Video: Interview with Richard Goldstone</a><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200917205418665491.html">
Timeline: Gaza War</a><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/01/20091229274380583.html">
Analysis: War crimes in Gaza?</a><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/UNFFMGC_Report.pdf">
Goldstone's full report to the UN rights council</a><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/200910395820396287.html">
Key points of the Goldstone report</a><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/09/2009915142916822510.html">
UN inquiry finds Gaza war crimes</a><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/09/200999114019997778.html">
'Half of Gaza war dead civilians'</a><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/plohistoryofrevolution/">
PLO: History of a Revolution</a><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/10/200910475534235872.html">
'Israel has to be accountable'</a><br>
<i>Al Jazeera is not responsible for external websites' content <br>
</i>The United States and Israel were among those countries which voted
against the resolution. <br><br>
Mike Hanna, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Geneva, said the vote was a
"very strong victory" for the supporters of the resolution, but
that the large number of abstentions was also "very
significant".<br><br>
In Gaza, Hamas thanked the nations that voted to endorse the
report.<br><br>
"We hope that vote will lead to a trial of the occupation
leaders," Taher al-Nunu, a Hamas spokesman, said.<br><br>
Mousa Abu Marzook, the deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau in
Damascus, Syria, told Al Jazeera: "We thank our people, all those
who support to submit again this report to the human rights committee and
all the countries who voted for the report.<br><br>
"I think if the Palestinian Authority didn't withdraw this report it
will be more efficient and the result will be stronger than the
resolution.<br>
<br>
"We will co-operate with this report and we will establish a new
committee to investigate.<br><br>
"Right now, there is no talking with Fatah, but during the dialogue
between Fatah and Hamas in Egypt, within a few weeks, we are going to
talk about reconciliation and, of course, this kind of subject we are
going to talk about."<br><br>
<b>Israel condemned<br><br>
</b>In addition to endorsing the report, the resolution "strongly
condemns all policies and measures taken by Israel, the occupying power,
including those limiting access of Palestinians to their properties and
holy sites".<br><br>
<b>Goldstone report vote</b> <br><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<b>For:</b> Argentina, Brazil, China, Russia, Bahrain, Bangladesh,
Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Djbouti, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan,
Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia <br><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<b>Against:</b> US, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia and
Ukraine<br><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" alt="[]">
<b>Abstentions:</b> Belgium, Bosnia, Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Gabon,
Japan, Mexico, Norway, South Korea, Slovenia and Uruguay<br><br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/Media/Images/sq.gif" width=5 height=5 alt="[]">
<b>No vote:</b> UK, France, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan and Angola<br>
It also calls on Israel to stop digging and excavation work around the
Al-Aqsa mosque as well as other Islamic and Christian religious
sites.<br><br>
Israel rejected the charges saying the resolution – drafted by the
Palestinians with Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tunisia, on behalf of
non-aligned, African, Islamic and Arab nations – threatened peace
efforts. <br><br>
The Goldstone report recommended that its conclusions be sent on to the
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor in The Hague if Israel and
Hamas do not hold their own credible investigations into allegations of
war crimes within six months.<br><br>
The report accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against
humanity.<br><br>
It also accused Hamas, which has de facto control of Gaza, of war crime
violations, but reserved most of its criticism for Israel.<br><br>
<b>'Rights undermined'<br><br>
</b>On Thursday, Navi Pillay, the UN human rights chief, endorsed the
report, calling for "impartial, independent, prompt and effective
investigations" into the alleged war crimes.<br><br>
Pillay said: "A culture of impunity continues to prevail in the
occupied territories and in Israel," Pillay said during the UN Human
Rights Council's special debate session on the report on
Thursday.<br><br>
In her speech, Pillay cited concern about the restrictions on
Palestinians wishing to enter al-Aqsa and expressed "dismay"
about the Israeli blockade of Gaza that she said "severely
undermines the rights and welfare of the population there".<br><br>
On Thursday, Goldstone, a former South African judge, criticised the
resolution, saying: "I hope that the council can modify the
text."<br><br>
About 1,400 Palestinians – the majority of them civilians - and 13
Israelis were killed during Israel's three-week war on Gaza, which had
the stated aim of stopping rocket attacks by Palestinian fighters from
the coastal territory.<br><br>
<br><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>