Notes

The UN human rights council's inquiry (Shurat Hadin)

On an afternoon on a Sunday Nitsana Darshan Leitner, a lawyer at the Israel Law Center in Tel Aviv, outlined the challenges facing Israel State of Israel would face from the United Nations over the next few weeks.

Her calm, almost serene attitude is in stark contrast to the strong opposition that Israel is expected to face from the UN Human Rights Council as well as the three-member Commission of Inquiry [COI] which was appointed by the UN to "investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel all alleged violations of international human rights law and all alleged violations and violations of international human rights laws leading up to and since April 13th, 2021."


While Israel has been the victim of UN-led investigations in the past, it is obvious that this investigation was created to continue and probe Israel and its IDF. The duration of the commission was not decided.

Darshan-Leitner clarifies, "The UN Human Rights Council investigation isn't just being made up out of in the air," and he established Shurat HaDin back in 2003. "It is linked to the activities of the International Court of Justice in The Hague."

In 1998 the Rome Statute established the ICC. The court has the power to pursue criminal charges against people for acts of aggression, crimes against humanity and genocide. Israel supported the idea of an International Court of Justice, however, they were concerned about the possibility of it being used to be employed against them. Israel and the US as well as many other countries have not signed the statute and have not ratified the statute. This means they do not have a legal obligation or obligation to comply with the rulings of ICC.

Fatou Bensouda (the ICC prosecutor at The Hague) announced in March 2021 that she will open a war crimes investigation against Israel and Hamas.

A decision of the International Court against Israel could have significant implications. Most European and Scandinavian nations have joined the court and legally bound to respect the court's rulings. If the ICC declared that IDF troops had committed war crimes, then any Israeli who is a part of an IDF military operations could be subject to arrest. Harsh economic sanctions could be imposed on the Jewish state as well as the banking industry.

Furthermore, Israel might also face other risks like sanctions, weapons embargoes, and boycotts. For nitsana darshan leitner , El Al or other Israeli carriers might not be permitted to operate in certain countries.

Bensouda's term was over as prosecutor and she was succeeded by Karim Khan (a British barrister). Bensouda assigned fourteen investigations for the new prosecution and eight of them were active. Darshan Leitner explains that he classified all the items on his docket in the planning phase which was to the astonishment of Palestinians. This was an acceptable method of stating that the allegations were not worthy of the court's attention or were not urgent enough.

"This angered the Palestinian Authority," says Darshan-Leitner. "They were unable to comprehend why their immense efforts to get the prosecutor open an investigation have stalled."

The PA requested for the creation of a commission at the International Court of Justice. This would enable Karim Khan, who was unable to accept the PA's request for reactivation of ICC investigation against Israel and to alter his opinion.

Darshan Leitner said that Israel's war crimes are being carried on by the PA since the time of Darshan Leitner's statement. Amnesty International published a report accusing Israel of discrimination against minorities within and beyond the Green Line. The report stated that Israel "has created and maintained an institutionalized regime of oppression" against Palestinians and accused Israel of maintaining racial discrimination of Palestinians since 1948.

Darshan Leitner claims that Palestinian complaints against Israel before the International Criminal Court have focused on two issues: IDF military operations and the issue of Israeli settlements that they claim constitute war crimes.

Karim Khan is pressured by the Palestinians, the ICC prosecutor, to focus on the investigation into Israel under "apartheid" which is a brand new charge. This was not one that Bensouda was able to investigate in his initial investigation. But, she said, "Whatever gets this investigation moving is legitimate to them, regardless of what it's about or if it's true."

KARIM KHAN, new ICC prosecutor. (Credit: Michael Kooren/Reuters)
The UN's third-member inquiry commission which is headed by Navi Pillay, a native of South Africa and includes Miloon Kothari, Australia, as well as Chris Sidoti, is the latest attempt by Palestinians to get their message across to The Hague court.

aviel darshan leitner says that Pillay Kothari, Sidoti and Kothari are all famous for their biases toward Israel. "Pillay is known to be a as a victim of apartheid. She also has claimed that she was a victim of Israel of using apartheid. The others are not far from the scene."

From February 28 to April 1st, UN Human Rights Council (HRC49) will host the 49th session.

The primary attraction of the session is likely to be the report the commission of inquiry will release regarding Operation Guardian of the Walls. This was the Israeli operation that took place in Gaza in May 2021 as in response to missiles fired at Israel by Hamas. At the time of the session Israel will likely to be facing charges of apartheidand war crimes and crimes versus humanity.

Darshan Leitner declares that while the State of Israel won't cooperate or get involved in the inquiry commission Shurat HaDin isn't able to sit silently and deny the accusations which will be made by the commission.

"There are aviel darshan leitner to combat the Pillay Committee," Darshan-Leitner explains. "One is the practical response that addresses the claims of apartheid. The personal angle is based on the members who are not impartial.

She says that previous experiences have demonstrated that Shurat HaDin or any other person will not be able influence people already negatively disposed towards Israel to alter their opinions.

Shurat HaDin, she suggests, plans to show that all members on the commission of inquiry are biased against Israel and that the UN is willing to compromise its principles as well as any notion of fairness in order to undermine Israel.

https://www.jewishexponent.com/2015/10/22/nitsana-darshan-leitner-ruining-terrorists-lives/ "We're planning to start an initiative calling for everyone COI members to resign." "We intend to create large-scale petitions, and take legal actions against COI members as well as anyone who supports this committee" Darshan Leitner says.

Additionally, Shurat HaDin will attempt to prove that the PA and not the State of Israel, is the main culprit in the violation of human rights. "We will look through their legislation and pull out what we have learned about the discrimination against women, children, the LGBTQ community, and their flawed legal system. Did you not know that PA law permits one to legally rape his wife? Marital rape is not an offense under their 'advanced human-rights-friendly' legislation.

"This is but a minor instance from the "champions" of human rights who the UN is keen to assist. As they accuse Israel, a genuine democracy, of apartheid. they advocate a dictatorship that has not held elections since 15 years, and that systematically abuses human rights of its people."

Darshan Leitner claims that Shurat haDin will also show the world the way minorities are treated by the PA and Gaza. Their numbers are constantly decreasing. Islamic extremists are increasing and are calling for mass murder of "infidels" and are more dangerous than ISIS.

Shurat HaDin's chief believes Israel has made a number of mistakes in the handling of a UNHRC-previous commission of inquiry in 2009 that was headed by Richard Goldstone, South African jurist. In that infamous episode, Jerusalem refused to cooperate with the Goldstone Commission, declaring it to be a biased body with a predetermined agenda it would not legitimize with its cooperating. Israel was the subject of a lot of tensions after the harshly criticized final report.

"While I am fully convinced that Israel was correct in not cooperating with the vicious Goldstone witch hunt, I don't believe we played our cards very well. It's not enough to simply avoid the UNHRC and declare them as racist and sexist. The government must support its decision by launching an effective campaign to disseminate and counterattack the anti-Semitic UNHRC. We have the ability to speak out and take legal actions in instances where the hands of the government could be tied," she said.

Darshan-Leitner is seeking to fill the gap this time. She summarizes the current circumstances and states that the goal of the PA is to ultimately influence the Hague's Chief Prosecutor. Therefore, "if I can uproot the foundation of the commission to demonstrate how flawed it is, as well as how the notion of apartheid is false and is more suited to the PA and the PA's agenda, it will demonstrate that the commission is not of any worth.

"If we don't take this step and the result is negative. The prosecutor might be influenced by the possibility of changing his decision. It would be a tragic and devastating development. It's not possible to do this.



Read More: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared Documents/ISR/INT_CCPR_NGO_ISR_99_9210_E.doc