war crimes

Obama’s Af-Pak War is Illegal

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:57:00 -0500

by Marjorie Cohn

President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize nine days after he announced he would send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. His escalation of that war is not what the Nobel committee envisioned when it sought to encourage him to make peace, not war.

Afghan Affair More Than 'Nitpicking'

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:04:51 -0500

by Linda McQuaig

The irritation of members of the Harper government has been palpable in recent weeks as they tap their toes impatiently, wondering when they can return to the serious business of waging war without all these rude interruptions about torture.

Last Friday on CBC Radio's The Current, Laurie Hawn, parliamentary secretary to Defence Minister Peter MacKay, complained about all the "nitpicking" and insisted that the Afghan detainee issue is not one that concerns Canadians.

This dismissive attitude – which permeates the Harper government – is puzzling.

Israel Confirms UK Arrest Warrant Against Livni

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:53:59 -0500

by Barak Ravid

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called for an end to the "absurd situation" in which arrest warrants were being issued to Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

"Only actions can put an end to this absurd situation, which would have seemed a comedy of errors were it not so serious," said the Foreign Ministry, a day after it emerged that opposition leader Tzipi Livni had canceled her trip to Britain after a warrant was issued for her arrest.

Huge Rise in Birth Defects in Falluja

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:00:06 -0500

by Martin Chulov in Falluja

Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting.

The extraordinary rise in birth defects has crystallised over recent months as specialists working in Falluja's over-stretched health system have started compiling detailed clinical records of all babies born.

UN Endorses Gaza War Crimes Report

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:50:06 -0500

The United Nations General Assembly has voted in favour of resolution endorsing a UN-sponsored report into war crimes committed during Israel's war on Gaza.

The Goldstone report, which accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes, was endorsed by the assembly on Thursday by a margin of 114 to 18, after two days of debate.

Forty-four member-nations abstained from voting.

Congress, Accountability, and the Goldstone Report

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:57:03 -0500

by Salena Tramel

I have been to the Gaza Strip twice and southern Israel once since the 2008-09 war, where I had the opportunity to listen to accounts from both people about what had happened to them during that time. Israelis showed me thickly walled rooms that act as bomb shelters and explained air raid siren systems in Sderot and Ashqelon. As difficult as their situation was, nothing could have prepared me for the level of destruction I found in Gaza.

Bipartisan Attack on International Humanitarian Law

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:30:10 -0500

by Stephen Zunes

In a stunning blow against international law and human rights, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Tuesday attacking the report of the United Nations Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict.

House Shames Itself on Goldstone Report

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:46:56 -0500

by Matthew Rothschild

Shame on the House of Representatives, and on the Democratic leadership of the House, for pushing through a resolution once again blindly taking the side of Israeli aggression.

I’m referring to the vote on Tuesday, by a lopsided 344-to-36 margin, to condemn the Goldstone report on Gaza.

US House Rejects Goldstone Report

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:56:30 -0500

The US House of Representatives has rejected as "irredeemably biased" the findings of a UN-sponsored report which says Israel committed war crimes during its military assault on the Gaza Strip.

The house on Tuesday voted 344 to 36 in favour of a non-binding resolution calling on Barack Obama, the US president, to maintain his opposition to the report, which was written by a panel led by Richard Goldstone, a South African judge.

UN Assembly Draft Urges Action on Gaza 'War Crimes'

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:08:17 -0500

by Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS - Arab U.N. delegates circulated a draft resolution on Monday that would require Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to bring a U.N. report alleging war crimes in the Gaza Strip before the Security Council.

A special meeting of the 192-nation assembly on Wednesday will debate the U.N. report on the December-January war in the Gaza Strip and vote on the draft resolution.

That report accused Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants of war crimes and was prepared by a U.N. fact-finding commission led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone.