THE KUALA LUMPUR WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL Case No. 4-‐CHG-‐2013 The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission Against The State of Israel ……….. Defendant
CHARGE The Chief Prosecutor of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission pursuant to Article 7 of the Charter of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission charges: The State of Israel For the Crime of Genocide and War Crimes as follows: From 1948 and continuing to date the State of Israel (hereafter ‘the Defendant’) carried out against the Palestinian people a series of acts namely killing, causing serious bodily harm and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction. The conduct of the Defendant was carried out with the intention of destroying in whole or in part the Palestinian people. These acts were carried out as part of a manifest pattern of similar conduct against the Palestinian people. These acts were carried out by the Defendant through the instrumentality of its representatives and agents including those listed in Appendices 1 and 2. Such conduct constitutes the Crime of Genocide under international law including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide 1948 (‘the Genocide Convention’) in particular Article II and punishable under Article III of the said Convention. It also constitutes the crime of genocide as stipulated in Article 10 of the Charter of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission. Such conduct by the Defendant as an occupying power also violates customary international law as embodied in the Hague Convention of 1907 Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. 1
Such conduct also constitutes War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity under international law. Particulars 1. From 1945 to 1948 the Defendant embarked on a plan to expel and eliminate the Palestine population then residing in Palestine by the following acts: a. The preparation and launch of military plans in 1945, 1947 and culminating in the 1948 Plan Dalet to conquer and ‘ethnically cleanse’ the country then occupied by the Defendant. The Plan referred to the ‘destruction of villages’ and the ‘expulsion of the [village] population to territory outside its borders’. b. In furtherance thereof, the Defendant carried out wanton acts of expulsion, massacre, destruction and rape. c. In 1948 there was destruction of 500 Palestinian villages and 11 urban neighbourhoods; 700,000 Palestinians were expelled; and countless thousands were massacred. d. One such incident was the massacre at Deir Yassin where Jewish forces indiscriminately shot at inhabitants, then rounded up and shot the remaining inhabitants. This was followed by the blowing up of houses of the inhabitants of four nearby towns and the expulsion of its inhabitants. e. Half the population of the indigenous Palestine population were driven out, half of their villages and towns were destroyed and only very few of them ever managed to return. f. These actions evince the Defendant’s intention to execute a policy to eliminate the Palestinians from the territories occupied by the Defendant in a form and manner that constitutes acts of genocide under international law. g. As a result, at the time of the 1949 Armistice, the Jewish population of Mandate Palestine rose from 26% to 80%; and its land ownership rose from 7% of the total land to 77% of such land. 2. The Defendant has since then carried out further intensification of its settler colonial process through genocidal acts as evidenced by among others: a. The massacre of Palestinians in the refugee camps at Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon in 1982; b. The massacre of Palestinian refugees and others in Jenin and Nablus in 2002; c. The Summer Rains Operation and thereafter of 2006; d. Cast Lead I Operation in Gaza in December 2008; and e. The Cast lead II Operation in Gaza in November 2012. 2
3. The Massacre at Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon in 1982; a. The Defendant who was in control of the Sabra-‐Shatila camps allowed admission to the camps of Christian Phalangists from September 16 – 18 1982 who then proceeded to kill, maim and seriously injure its Palestinian and other inhabitants. Estimates of those massacred range from 300 to 3000 people. b. The Defendants knew or, in any event, should have known, that the Phalangists would kill or cause serious harm to the Palestinian refugees. Many of those listed in Appendix 1 knew or should have known a massacre would take place. In particular the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Staff have admitted to knowledge that killings would take place. c. In the event the Defendant was responsible for, and complicit in, the massacres. d. The Defendant was, in any event, under an affirmative duty to protect the civilian population in the refugee camps and failed abysmally to do so. Such failure, coupled with its knowledge through its agents, of the intent by the Phalangists to kill, constitute direct and public incitement to commit genocide, complicity in genocide or conspiracy to commit genocide, punishable under Article III of the Genocide Convention. 4. The massacre of Palestinian refugees and others in Jenin and Nablus in 2002 a. On 29 March 2002 the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) launched a new offensive, Operation Defensive Shield, in Palestinian residential areas. b. In Jenin and Nablus a tight cordon of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and soldiers was thrown around the areas where the IDF carried out operations: Jenin refugee camp and Nablus old city. Houses were intensively attacked by missiles from Apache helicopters. c. In one appalling and extensive operation, the IDF demolished, destroyed by explosives, or flattened by army bulldozers, a large residential area of Jenin refugee camp, much of it after the fighting had apparently ended. d. Throughout the period 4-‐15 April, the IDF denied access to Jenin refugee camp to all, including medical doctors and nurses, ambulances, humanitarian relief services, human rights organizations, and journalists. e. By 12 April residents said that the continuous curfew had led to an acute food and water shortage. In some cases children were drinking waste water and became sick as a result. One resident from the edge of the camp said that: "the camp smells of death due to the scattered bodies, some bodies are
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buried under the rubble, others crushed by tanks, and the rest are left lying in the streets." f. In the old city area of Nablus, the situation was quite similar: lack of food and water and the fact they were unable to move from their houses. Occupants even watched the body of an unknown Palestinian die; then they watched dogs eat the body as it decomposed. g. The form, manner and severity of this conduct by the Defendant its servants or agents, amounts to genocide under the Genocide Convention and international law. 5. Two major offensives by the IDF: 27 February and end June 2002 a. In the four months between 27 February and the end of June 2002 – the period of the two major offensives by the armed forces of the Defendant (IDF) and the reoccupation of the West Bank -‐ the IDF killed nearly 500 Palestinians unlawfully and at least 16% of the victims, more than 70, were children. More than 8,000 Palestinians detained in mass round-‐ups over the same period were routinely subjected to ill-‐treatment and more than 3,000 Palestinian homes were demolished. b. The Defendant failed as the occupying power of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, to fulfil its obligation to respect and protect the human rights of all people in these areas.
c. Instead, between April and June 2002, the IDF carried out the following heinous acts: i. unlawful killings; ii. the use of "human shields"; iii. torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of people detained; iv. blocking of medical assistance, food and water; and v. the destruction of property, including damage or destruction of the civil infrastructure, commercial buildings, historic and religious buildings and homes. d. The nature extent and severity of these acts constitute genocide under the Genocide Convention and international law, and war crimes under international law. e. The Defendant also employed various contrivances to keep its conduct shielded from internal and external scrutiny. 6. The Summer Rains Operation of 2006 and thereafter
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a. Operation Summer Rains commenced on June 28, 2006 and ended in November 2006. b. It was the most brutal attack in Gaza since 1967. The army invaded the Strip from land, sea and air and bombarded the most densely populated civilian centre in the world. c. Daily civilians were killed by the Israeli army. For example, on September 2, 3 citizens were killed and a whole family wounded in Beit Hanoun. By evening many more were killed. d. In September, an average of 8 Palestinian died daily in Israeli attacks, many of them children, hundreds were maimed, wounded and paralysed. In 2006, 660 citizens were killed including 141 children. e. In Gaza, Israeli forces demolished almost 300 houses and slew entire family. f. This meant that since 2,000 Israeli forces killed almost 4000 Palestinians a large number of them children; more than 20,000 were wounded. 7. Operation Autumn Clouds in November 2006 On November 1, 2006, in less than 48 hours, the Israeli killed 70 civilians; by end of November, almost 200 were killed, half of them children and women. 8. Operations from Summer Rains to Autumn Clouds become a strategy a. Israel followed a policy of militarisation toward the Gaza Strip from 2005 with the initiation of Operation First Rains. b. From then until Operation Autumn Clouds the killing escalated in every aspect with the disappearance of the distinction between civilian and non-‐ civilian targets. This turned the civilian population at large into a legitimate military target. c. Secondly, every possible killing machine was used. d. Thirdly, the number of casualties increased dramatically. e. Finally, the military operations became a strategy to deal with Gaza and its population. 9. Killings in 2007 a. In 2007, 300 people were killed in Gaza, dozens of them children. b. The Strip was encircled by barbed wire and walls. Flour, cement, medicine, dairy products and rice were barred, and movement in and out of Gaza restricted.
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c. The choice was if the Palestinians did not repudiate their lawfully elected government, they will be strangled and starved; alternatively, they could adopt the politics Israel wanted in which case they would suffer the same faith as that of the West Bank: life without basic human rights. 10. New Doctrine implemented in October 2008 a. In 2008, the IDF embarked on a new doctrine in relation to Gaza: an adaptation of the Dahiyya Doctrine applied to Lebanon. b. This meant the total destruction as punitive action and infliction of damage “that would take ages to recover from”. Gaza was to be hammered and wiped out with all the might that the IDF could muster. This was followed by the IDF tightening the blockade on Gaza in 2008. This resulted in genocidal realities: lack of basic food, absence of elementary medicine, denial of building material, cut out of water and electricity supplies, and no source of employment. c. In June 2008, IDF attacked Gaza from the air and ground daily in violation of the then cease fire. d. These actions constituted genocide under international law. 11. The Cast Lead I Operation in Gaza in December 2008 a. The attack upon Gaza had been planned for over 6 months; b. It commenced without warning on 27 December 2008 and lasted for 3 weeks; c. Some 1,500 Palestinians were killed, including some 300 children and hundreds of other unarmed civilians; large areas of Gaza was reduced to rubble rendering thousands homeless and the economy even more dire than ever before. d. On January 4, 2009, in the Zeitoun district, the Samouni clan were ordered out of their houses by Israeli soldiers and finally forced to move to a building, with over 100 members in one home. On January 5, Israelis began demolishing the wall of the house. The house was later hit by missiles fired by the Israeli Air Force. 49 members were killed, mainly women, children and the elderly. e. In another attack Israeli soldiers deliberately shot at another family house; and shot the owner repeatedly, about 20-‐30 times. He and his four year-‐old-‐ son were killed. f. In another incident, 45 members of the Samouni family were placed in one room; three of the men were ordered by soldiers to "walk to Gaza City" and to not "come back". One killed Samouni member was found on the street on January 4. His hands were cuffed. 6
g. The manner and form of the acts and barbarity, as well as the employment of such fierce military force in a narrow civilian space (‘nowhere in Gaza was safe for civilians’), amounted to genocide as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law. 12. Physical debilitation a. The Defendant has since May 2008 imposed a blockade in Gaza. The fishing zone for Palestinian fisherfolk of Gaza has been substantially reduced; a buffer zone which incorporates 35% of Gaza’s arable land has been established. This has caused a tight closure of Gaza’s economy. b. This has seriously debilitated its economy. 70% of Gazans live in poverty with 44% unemployment rate. c. This policy to keep the Gazans impoverished is part of the Defendant’s deliberate policy to prevent sustained growth. 13. No Freedom of Movement a. The Defendant has placed severe restrictions of movement for Palestinians through a variety of factors, including the blockade, checkpoints and a Wall that cuts through farmers’ lands in the West Bank. More than 80% of the Wall is within the West Bank and has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). b. The Wall has placed Palestinian communities under ‘a virtual siege’. c. The ICJ impacts in a seriously negatively way the right of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories to live in accordance with fundamental rights accorded to human beings. d. Palestinians from the Occupied Territories are banned from traveling on main roads and checked – and often turned back -‐ at the Israeli-‐manned barrier outside every town. e. Since May 2002 a Palestinian cannot travel from one town to another in the Occupied Territories without a special pass. Most Palestinians do not have permits and thus do not travel. f. Gaza is cut off from the West Bank and entry to Jerusalem is prohibited without special permission to all Palestinians from the Occupied Territories. As a consequence the Palestinians cannot properly worship at the Al Aqsa Mosque and their Christian Holy Sites. 14. Right to Water a. The Defendant has through various acts restricted and deprived the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories access to and control over water. 7
b. The amount of water supplied falls well below WHO standards. c. Some 90-‐95 % of the water supplied is contaminated and not fit for human consumption. d. Between 2000–2006, the IDF wilfully destroyed 244 wells in the Gaza Strip including 2 drinking water sources. e. The restrictions on fuel and electricity have also led to the periodic paralysis of water and waste-‐water services, affecting water wells and agricultural wells. f. Age-‐old water cisterns in rural communities have also been destroyed. g. Right to water is a fundamental human right and essential to the survival of Palestinians. h. All these measures by the Defendant endanger life and health of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and are subordinated to the criminal intent to destroy and cripple permanently the Palestinian populace. 15. Children a. 1,518 Palestinian children were killed by Israel's occupation forces from the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000 up to April 2013, the equivalent of one Palestinian child killed every 3 days for almost 13 years. b. The number of children injured for the same period has now reached 6,000. c. Palestinian children are still subject to attacks by the Israelis and Jewish settlers on an almost daily basis. d. 9,000 Palestinians under 18 years old have been arrested since the end of September 2000. Almost 250 Palestinian minors are being held in prison by Israel; 47 of them are children under 16 years of age. e. These statistics and the various acts described hereinbefore in relation to children especially their wanton killings and causing them serious bodily and mental harm including by the perpetration of heinous acts in their presence also constitute a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (Article 19). CONCLUSION a. The cumulative intent and effect of the serial pattern of acts of the Defendant as hereinbefore outlined and particularised amount to the initiation, intensification and continuation of a settler colonisation genocidal process begun in 1948 and continuing even to date. These acts of persecution have escalated into extreme form of wilful and deliberate acts designed to destroy a group or part of a group of the Palestinian 8
people. Such conduct amounts to genocide under the Genocide Convention as well as international law. b. In any event the acts taken singly or otherwise, also amount to a violation of customary international law as embodied in the Hague Convention of 1907 Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. c. These acts also amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law and under Articles 9 (crimes against humanity), 10 (genocide) and 11(war crimes) of the Charter of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission, in Article 9. Dated the 4th day of June 2013 …………………………… Gurdial Singh Nijar Chief Prosecutor Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Legal Team (Established by the Charter of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission)
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Appendix 1: Agents of the Defendant In respect of the acts committed in Sabra and Shatilla: Menachem Begin, then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, then Defense Minister Yitzhak Shamir, then Foreign Minister Rafael Eitan, Lieutenant General, then Chief of Staff Yehoshua Saguy, major General, then Director of Military Intelligence Amos Yaron, Brigadier General. then Division Commander Avi Duda’i, then personal aide to the then Defense Minister Appendix 2: Agents of the Defendant Cast Lead I Operation Ehud Olmert, then Prime Minister Ehud Barak then Defence Minister Tzipi Livni, then Foreign Minister Gavriel Ashkenzi, General, then Chief of Staff Moshe Katsav, then President Appendix 3: Agents of the Defendant Cast Lead 2 Operation Shimon Peres, then President Benjamin Netanyahu, then Prime Minister Ehud Barak, then Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, then Foreign Minister 10