29 September 2003

Dear Representative,

Please find enclosed a copy of "Three Years of Israeli Violations of International Humanitarian Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: The Need for Accountability”, prepared by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), in September 2003, as a memorandum to the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949 (the Convention).

As the Al-Aqsa Intifada enters its fourth year, violations of the Convention, including grave breaches, have escalated to levels unprecedented since 1967.  Israeli military attacks in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), particularly during the large-scale and prolonged Israeli military incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas conducted in 2002, have been characterized by; excessive and indiscriminate use of force; wilful killings and injuries; restrictions on freedom of movement of people and goods, including prolonged closures and curfews; extensive destruction of civilian property, including infrastructure, educational and health facilities; extensive expropriation of lands; destruction of crops and uprooting of trees; extrajudicial executions; mass arbitrary arrests and detention; torture and ill treatment.  Over the last three years, Israeli military actions in the OPTs have resulted in almost total suffocation of economic, political and social life and a deepening humanitarian crisis.

However, these systematic violations of the Convention, including grave breaches, have been met with consistent inaction from the High Contracting Parties to the Convention.  This ongoing impunity constitutes a breach of the clear legal obligations of the High Contracting Parties.  PCHR is particularly concerned that this failure to act serves to effectively encourage further violations of the Convention, perpetuating increasing levels of violence which may ultimately lead to a state of total lawlessness.

PCHR expresses its particular dismay at the conclusion of the 5 December 2001 meeting of the High Contracting Parties which, in failing to conclude on immediate action to be taken to secure Israel's compliance with the Convention, once again illustrated the politicization of international humanitarian law.  In light of the escalation in violations of this Convention, including grave breaches, since that time, PCHR sincerely hopes that the previous disregard for the legal obligations imposed on all High Contracting Parties to the Convention, including to "ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances", will now cease.  PCHR demands that the international community accept that the resolution of the situation in the OPTs can be found only in the application and implementation of international human rights and humanitarian law, specifically this Convention.

Thus, PCHR reiterates its call to the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to adhere to their legal obligations and take immediate concrete steps to secure Israel's implementation of the Convention in the OPTs.  PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Convention to immediately reconvene a conference to decide on concrete steps to take to secure Israel's enforcement.  In particular, PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties 

•           to dispatch an international protection presence with a mandate to oversee the implementation of the Convention in the OPTs;

•         to comply with the obligation to search for and prosecute those responsible for grave breaches of the Convention;

•         to take all lawful measures necessary to secure Israel's compliance with the Convention.

Yours sincerely,

Raji Sourani

Director

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights