COHRE Protest Israel Lebanon 2006

10 August 2006 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Office of the Prime Minister 3 Kaplan Street Hakriya Jerusalem 91919 ISRAEL Fax: 02-670-5475 Email: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il RE: Violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories Dear Prime Minister Olmert, The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) is an international human rights organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with offices throughout the world. COHRE has consultative status with the United Nations and works to promote and protect the right to adequate housing for everyone, everywhere, including preventing or remedying forced evictions.

COHRE joins the international community in strongly condemning the recent and ongoing violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law in Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Israeli Government violations in Lebanon COHRE is gravely concerned about violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law binding upon the State of Israel that have recently occurred and are continuing to occur in Lebanon. For instance, Israel has targeted civilian areas in Lebanon in their bombing campaign, causing the deaths of approximately 960 Lebanese to date, most of them civilians.

Almost 3,400 people have been injured and more than 915,000 people have been displaced, as of 10 August. Additionally, Israel has intentionally targeted fuel sources necessary for health facilities and for access to water sources as well as other civilian infrastructure. Some 400,000 internally displaced persons are now living in temporary accommodations or shelters, with many lacking adequate food or medical care. Thousands of others remain trapped in southern Lebanese villages and towns that have been isolated for days. Israel has also acted to prevent international and domestic humanitarian aid from reaching the internally displaced and those remaining in targeted areas – going so far as to threaten to attack UN personnel from delivering such aid or repairing civilian infrastructure necessary to transport such aid.

These acts and other evidence indicate intent to forcibly evict and displace Lebanese civilians from southern Lebanon. COHRE urges the State of Israel to abide by its legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 (Fourth Geneva Convention). In particular, Article 33 Fourth Geneva Convention states that: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of

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terrorism are prohibited.” Article 33 states further that: “Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.”

Additionally, under the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), “inhumane acts … intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health” “when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population” amount to war crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC. Similarly, the acts of the State of Israel amount to unlawful forced population transfer, defined as the “forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law,” which also constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute. Finally, the crime of “extermination,” defined by the Rome Statute as “the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population,” constitutes a war crime. Given the facts as they relate to southern Lebanon, it seems clear that the intent, and indeed the often stated intent, of the State of Israel is to bring about the destruction of the civilian population in southern Lebanon through the use of coercive acts to expel that population. Consequently, these acts constitute war crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC. Israeli Government violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories The recent incursion by Israeli forces into the Occupied Palestinian Territories has included intentional forced evictions and destruction of housing. Additionally, power and water supplies have been intentionally targeted and destroyed by the Israeli Defence Forces.

The United Nations Security Council, in its Resolution 1544, reiterated “the obligation of Israel, the occupying Power, to abide scrupulously by its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949” and called “on Israel to respect its obligations under international humanitarian law, and insist[ed], in particular, on its obligation not to undertake demolition of homes contrary to that law.”

Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited.”

Additionally, the destruction of homes constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Article 147 of the Convention states that: Grave breaches to which the preceding Article [Article 146] relates shall be those involving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or property protected by the present Convention: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed in the present Convention, taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. (emphasis added).

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The United Nations, the International Committee for the Red Cross, and the international community have deemed the Fourth Geneva Convention to apply to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The destruction of property, including housing, is a clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention by the Government of Israel. Such actions constitute violations in their own right under Article 53, and because they are used as a form of collective punishment they violate the provisions of Article 33 as well. Pursuant to Article 147, the actions of the Government of Israel constitute grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, not only because they entail the “extensive destruction of property” but also because of they “cause great suffering” among the civilian population. As such, the Government of Israel, pursuant to Article 146 of the Convention, is under an obligation “to search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such grave breaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its own courts” or to “hand such persons over for trial to another High Contracting Party concerned.”

Additionally, under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute), grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as enumerated in Article 147, constitute “war crimes” and as such fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

The actions of the Government of Israel are also in clear violation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESC Covenant), in particular the right to adequate housing enshrined in Article 11(1) of the Covenant and the implicit right to water as articulated in General Comment No. 15 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. As you are well aware, Israel is a State Party to this treaty and has, therefore, legally committed itself to complying with the obligations and rights created by the Covenant. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the body mandated by States Parties to monitor compliance with the ESC Covenant, has expressly stated in its General Comment No. 4 that: “Forced evictions are prima facie incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant.” The Israeli Government’s recent incursion into The Occupied Palestinian Territories has resulted in constructive forced eviction, often followed by housing demolition. As a State Party to the ESC Covenant, the Government of Israel is legally obliged to respect, protect and fulfil the right to adequate housing enshrined in Art. 11(1). This legal obligation applies equally to the rights of citizens of Israel as well as those persons under Israeli occupation.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has affirmed that forced evictions are “a gross violation of human rights” and a practice resulting in “inhumane acts . . . causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.” This is particularly true with respect to the large scale forced evictions carried out by the State of Israel which, as they are not only used as a form of collective punishment but are coupled with the destruction of wells and food producing areas, clearly amount to intentional crimes against humanity as defined in Article 7 the Rome Statute. As such, the forced evictions carried out by the Government of Israel against a civilian population also fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

On account of these immoral, unjust and unlawful actions by the State of Israel, COHRE will again call to reconvene the Conference of the High Contracting Parties with a view to fulfilling their joint obligation to ensure respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention and to improve the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. COHRE will also call upon the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as the International Criminal Court, to address any actions by the Government of Israel that fall under their respective jurisdictions.

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Again, COHRE strongly condemns the violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law by the State of Israel and strongly urges Israel to abide by its legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as other relevant human rights and humanitarian law; and to bring those responsible for such acts to justice in accordance with the Convention and other international law.

We look forward to discussing these matters with you further. Our Geneva staff will be contacting your Mission in Geneva and our Litigation and Media Programmes will explore other forms of human rights advocacy as necessary. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Jean du Plessis Executive Director (ai) Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions 83 Rue de Montbrillant 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: 41.22.734.1028 Fax: 41.22.733.8336 CC: ICC - International Criminal Court PO Box 19519 2500 CM, The Hague The Netherlands Fax: +31 (0)70 515 8555 International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC Advisory Service on International Humanitarian Law 19 avenue de la Paix CH 1202 Genève SWITZERLAND Fax: 41 (22) 733 20 57 Lebanon: (+961) 1 740 087 Tel Aviv: Fax: (+972) 35 27 03 70 Département fédéral des affaires étrangères Direction du droit international public Palais Fédéral Ouest CH-3003 Berne SWITZERLAND Directorate of Political Affairs Fax: (+41) 031 323 59 88 Political Affairs Division II Fax: (+41) 031 324 90 63 UN Coordination Fax: Fax: (+41) 031 324 90 65

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