PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
PRESS RELEASE
Ref: 126/2003
Date: 29 September 2003
Three Years of Israeli Violations of International Humanitarian Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: The Need for Accountability
Today, on the third anniversary of the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, PCHR submitted 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, summarizing violations of the Convention over the last three years and calling for immediate action to protect Palestinian civilians.
The memorandum presents updated information on Israel’s systematic violations of international humanitarian law, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) since 29 September 2000. The memorandum highlights in particular grave breaches of the Convention, providing statistics and information on willful killings, assassinations, torture and inhuman treatment, closures and curfews, unlawful deportations and transfers, wilfully causing great suffering and serious injury, and extensive destruction and expropriation of civilian property.
The memorandum further reminds the High Contracting Parties of their legal obligations, as defined in the Convention, including to ensure Israel’s respect of the Convention in the OPTs and calls for immediate action in this respect.
For further inquiries please email pchr@pchrgaza.org.
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To download the memorandum, please click on the following links
Three Years of Israeli Violations of International Humanitarian Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: The Need for Accountability (PDF)
Public Document
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For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 - 2825893
PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail:pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org