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News agencies, news websites
Dr. Haytham Manna, the general coordinator of the International
Coalition against War Criminals, on Friday April, 24th
2009 declared that the threat messages sent to Norwegian lawyers
who filed the first national lawsuit according to universal
jurisdiction constitute a state of intellectual political and
judicial bankruptcy for those defending the Hebrew State.
"They can do nothing but threats. A judicial file should be
faced with a judicial file and evidence should be faced with "débat
contradictoire" including evidence, and legal pleading and
reference. They should prepare international law experts and
human rights defenders instead of fueling up Mossad agents and
false propaganda services", said Manna who has returned
yesterday from Oslo after taking part in filing the lawsuit in
the name of the ICAWC.
"The Norwegian lawyers in the international coalition have done
a great job: held weekly meetings during the past four months,
searched for evidential data, did documentation with
Palestinians in 1948 occupied Palestinian territories, took part
in all activities of the coalition in Geneva, France, Belgium,
took part in the lawsuit filed before the International Criminal
Court and formed an official branch for the coalition in Norway
giving an example in dynamic nonstop work. The presence of a
lawyer of Palestinian origin,
Loai Deeb,
facilitated their contacts and a top figure like
Mads Gilbert, who witnessed the aggression and was one of the
most prominent workers operating under the aggression, added so
much to the credibility of the coalition in Scandinavian
countries. Al Dameer Human Rights Organization, Al-Mezan Human
Rights Centre and the coalition's fact-finding mission played a
significant role in the powers of attorney and consolidating
evidence".
For his part, lawyer Kjell M. Brygfjeld commented on the threats
saying:" The issue isn't about whom is supporting or opposing
us. Such methods will only increase our conviction that our
attitude is right. The issue is in which camp the one is
standing: in the camp of criminals or the camp of justice?”
The Norwegian National Prosecution Office announced plans for
hearing the lawsuit filed against 11 Israeli officials on
charges of committing war crimes in the latest Israeli
aggression on Gaza Strip, an aggression that left thousands
martyred and injured while the Israeli army issued a statement
in which he dismissed these charges. The Israeli embassy in Oslo
declined to issue any statement.
Siri Frigaard,
the general prosecutor at the Norwegian National Authority for
Prosecution of Organised and Other Serious Crime, said in a
press statement that she received the lawsuit filed against the
Israeli officials, pointing out that the office will study the
legal foundations of the charges before asking the police to
investigate them. She ruled out reaching a final decision this
week.
Frigaard's statement came after
attorneys-at-law Bent Endresen, Geir Høin, Pål Hadler, Harald
Stabell, Loai Deeb and Kjell M. Brygfjeld filed a lawsuit
against
Former prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert,
Former foreign minister of Israel, Tzipi Livni, and current
defence minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, in addition to other 7
military commanders, on charge of committing war crimes against
the Palestinian people in the latest aggression on Gaza Strip.
In a official statement issued on Wednesday April, 22nd,
2009, the Norwegian lawyers said that Olmert, Livni and Barak
are sharing legal responsibility for " large-scale terrorist
attacks directly and mainly targeting Gaza resident".
The statement also pointed out that the lawsuit includes also
killing civilians, destroying property, using internationally
banned weapons and targeting protected facilities like
hospitals. It pointed out that the Israeli commanders were
informed in advance, approved the operations carried out in Gaza
and knew in advance the consequences of this", clearly
indicating this crimes lives up to a premeditated crime.
One of the attorneys who filed the complaint, Bent Endresen, was
quoted by Associated Press by telephone as saying:" There was a
legal change that now gives a universal jurisdiction for such
war crimes. He said a Norwegian law that went into effect last
year allows foreigners to face charges in Norway for war crimes,
genocide and crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the
world.
Norway's Foreign Ministry said the complaint was a matter for
the legal system and not the government.
For its part, Israeli army on Wednesday issued a statement in
which it defended its behavior during the war, dismissing
charges of committing international law violations.
The statement came at the end of five internal probes that
concluded that the Israeli army "maintained a high professional
and moral level while facing an enemy that aimed to terrorize
Israeli civilians whilst taking cover amidst uninvolved
civilians in the Gaza strip and using them as human shields."
Human Rights Watch on Thursday responded to Israeli allegations.
"The Israeli military's findings about the conduct of its forces
in Gaza , announced on April 22, lack credibility and confirm
the need for an impartial international inquiry into alleged
violations by both Israel and Hamas," Human Rights Watch said in
a statement issued Thursday. HRW called on both Israel and Hamas
to cooperate with the expected United Nations probe into the war
crime allegations, and urged the sides to work with South
African Justice Richard Goldstone, who was appointed by the UN
Human Rights Council to lead the inquiry.
A group of ten Israeli human rights organizations said that the
findings reached by internal military probes are "problematic",
requiring a mainly independent probe into the allegations
against the army.
As for the Palestinian human rights organizations, they saw the
Israeli statement as a "red herring" and an attempt to change
the policy of systematic rejection to holding a probe due to
international pressures and more grave systematic violations and
crimes revealed every day.
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