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Members of un human rights probe into Gaza conflict meet in geneva

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Members of UN human rights probe into Gaza conflict meet in Geneva

 Boy in Gaza

A Palestinian boy amidst the debris of a destroyed house in Gaza City
4 May 2009 – The independent team of investigators tasked by the United Nations with examining alleged human rights abuses and violations of international law during the recent conflict in Gaza began a week-long meeting in Geneva today to prepare for a fact-finding mission to the region.
The UN Human Rights Council established the fact-finding mission into Israel’s three-week long military offensive in Gaza, which had the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks on its territory and left at least 1,300 Palestinians dead and some 5,300 injured.

The heavy bombardment and fighting also reduced homes, schools, hospitals and marketplaces to rubble.

The four-person team, led by the former prosecutor for International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Richard Goldstone of South Africa, will hold discussions this week with representatives of Israel and Palestine, as well as other relevant Member States, civil society, and UN agencies.

The other members of the team include Christine Chinkin, Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science at the University of London; Hina Jilani, Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and former Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders; and Colonel (retired from the Irish Armed Forces) Desmond Travers, member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI).

This fact-finding mission is separate from the UN Board of Inquiry, led by Ian Martin of the United Kingdom, which is probing incidents involving death and damage at the world body’s premises in Gaza during Israel’s military operation.

Sourced UN News Service 4 May 2009

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Icty prosecutor to hold a press conference after Karadzic transfer

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The prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia will hold a press conference today following the transfer of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic.

Serge Brammertz would address journalists at the tribunal’s offices. Brammertz, who succeeded Carla Del Ponte as prosecutor at the beginning of the year, has rarely faced the media.

The 63-year-old Karadzic, arrested in Belgrade on Jul 21, was transferred to the tribunal’s detention unit in The Hague this morning to face charges over atrocities committed during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, which claimed 100,000 lives.

He faces charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, notably for the massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.

MRN-AFP

 

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Speak out against women abuse

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Speak out against women abuse

by Abdullah Saeed

The Star-May 12, 2009 Edition 1

I refer to the article "Abuse of Muslim gets worse", (Star, May 04).
Violence against women is a human rights violation and is a behaviour that knows no culture, religion, race, tradition, social status or country. It is one of the biggest scourges in our communities and there can be no justification for it.
Blaming acts of domestic violence on religion and other factors serves only to conceal and distract us from the truth – domestic violence is a reality in every community and we have not yet dedicated the necessary resources to challenge and change this.
According to statistics, one out of every three women in the world has been a victim of violence in her lifetime, violence against women is one of the four major causes of death on the planet today and 30 percent of women are being physically injured by their partners.
We need to break the culture of silence and motivate victims to speak out against violence.

Pietermaritzburg

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