Gaza: betaling compensatie Israël aan VN negeert rechten burgerslachtoffers

Op 22 januari verklaarde de VN compensatie ontvangen te hebben van de Israelische overheid. Deze compensatie volgt na een onderzoek ingesteld door VN secretaris-generaal Ban Ki-moon, naar de Israelische aanvallen op VN-personeel en gebouwen tijdens het Gaza-conflict.

De VN stelde dat met de betaling de financiële kwesties met betrekking tot de aanvallen "afgerond" zijn. Nochtans werd in het onderzoeksverslag aanbevolen niet alleen schadeloosstelling te eisen voor de slachtoffers tijdens de aanvallen op VN-gebouwen, maar ook voor burgerslachtoffers die vielen tijdens alle andere aanvallen gedurende het conflict. Opnieuw blijven deze burgerslachtoffers in de kou staan.

"De schadevergoeding die nu werd uitgekeerd aan de VN kan slechts een eerste stap zijn. Uiteindelijk moet alle schade veroorzaakt tijdens het conflict vergoed worden," zegt Claudio Cordone, Amnesty's interim secretaris-generaal in een brief aan Ban Ki-moon. "De VN kan en mag niet blind zijn voor de honderden vrouwen, mannen en kinderen die werden gedood, noch voor de vele gewonden of materiële schade aangericht tijdens het Gaza-conflict."

Vervolg van het Engelstalig bericht

During Operation "Cast Lead", the 22-day Israeli offensive in Gaza (27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009), some 1,400 Palestinians, including more than 300 children, were killed as a result of the Israeli offensive, hundreds of others were injured and thousands of homes were destroyed.

Thirteen Israelis were killed, including three civilians killed by indiscriminate rockets fired into southern Israel by Palestinian armed groups.

During the conflict, a number of UN premises and operations were hit in military strikes and damaged, including schools, a health centre, a field office and a UN convoy. In several of these attacks, UN staff and Palestinian civilians who were inside or near buildings at the time were killed or injured.

On 12 February 2009, Ban Ki-moon set up a Board of Inquiry with limited terms of reference to investigate attacks on UN personnel and buildings in Gaza.

The Board’s full report, which has not been made public, was submitted to Ban Ki-moon on 21 April, who subsequently released a summary of the findings.

In all, nine incidents were examined by the Board, including the case of UNRWA Jabalia Preparatory Boys School, which was repeatedly hit by Israeli mortar strikes on 6 January 2009, killing more than 30 civilians, and the shelling of UNRWA Beit Lahia Elementary School on 17 January 2009 when two children sheltering in the school were killed.

The Board found that the Israeli military had repeatedly breached the inviolability of the UN, did not make sufficient efforts to protect UN staff or civilians and, in a number of the cases examined, was responsible for damage done to UN buildings and injuries and fatalities caused by Israeli attacks.

In one incident examined by the Board, it was found that Hamas or another Palestinian actor was responsible for damage to a World Food Programme warehouse near the Karni crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Amnesty International emphasized in the letter that the rights of victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law to a remedy, including full and effective reparations "cannot be waived by the UN".

Amnesty International urged Ban Ki-moon to make clear to the government of Israel that it has an obligation to ensure that victims of violations by Israeli forces that occurred during the conflict have immediate access to an effective remedy, including full and effective reparations.

The organization said that Ban Ki-moon should call on Hamas to "provide reparations to the victims of violations by the armed wing of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups" during the conflict.