---

23 September 2010 – Israeli forces violated human rights and
international humanitarian law during the 31 May incident involving a
convoy of aid ships bound for Gaza, the United Nations Human Rights
Council’s international, independent fact-finding mission has
concluded.
In a 56-page report, the fact-finding mission, which is separate from
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s four-member panel of inquiry into the
same incident, found that the action of the Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF) in intercepting one of the ships, the Mavi Marmara, on the high
sea was “clearly unlawful.”

Nine civilians lost their lives and several more were seriously
injured in the incident against the flotilla that departed from Turkey
and was trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has been the
subject of an Israeli blockade since 2007.

“The conduct of the Israeli military and other personnel towards the
flotilla passengers was not only disproportionate to the occasion but
demonstrated levels of totally unnecessary and incredible violence,”
the report states.

“It betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality. Such conduct cannot
be justified or condoned on security or any other grounds. It
constituted grave violations of human rights law and international
humanitarian law.”

The report, which was made public yesterday, presents a factual
description of the events leading up to the interception of each of
the six ships in the flotilla as well as a seventh ship intercepted on
6 June, the deaths of nine passengers and wounding of many others, and
the detention of passengers in Israel and their deportation.

The three-member mission said there is clear evidence to support
prosecutions of crimes such as wilful killing, torture or inhuman
treatment, and wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to
body or health.

It also voiced regret that the Israeli Government declined to
cooperate with the mission, and that this is not the first time that
this has happened.

“On yet another occasion of an enquiry into events involving loss of
life at the hands of the Israeli military, the Government of Israel
has declined to cooperate in an inquiry not appointed by it or on
which it was significantly represented.”

The mission, chaired by Judge K. Hudson-Phillips, former judge of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, interviewed more than
100 witnesses in Geneva, London, Istanbul and Amman during the course
of its work.

Sir Desmond de Silva, Queen’s Counsel, who was chief prosecutor of the
Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal, and Shanthi Dairiam, human rights
expert of Malaysia and former member of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women, are also on the team,
which will present its report to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council
next week.

News Tracker: past stories on this issue
UN Human Rights Council mission on flotilla incident concludes visit
to Turkey

Kilde: UN News Centre.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36086&Cr=flotilla&Cr1=