GENEVA, March 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the protests in the Palestinian Gaza Strip urged Israel to immediately ensure that its security forces’ rules of engagement are revised to comply with international legal standards.
The commission presented its findings Monday to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), “after investigating all killings and many injuries occurring by the separation fence between Israel and Gaza during the demonstrations last year”.
The report scrutinizes the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) directives for snipers’ use of lethal force against Palestinian protestors in the Gaza Strip.
“We present this comprehensive report with an urgent plea to Israel to immediately ensure that the rules of engagement of their security forces are revised to comply with international legal standards,” commission chair, Santiago Canton of Argentina, told the HRC.
He explained that the protests’ first anniversary was less than two weeks away.
“We hear that crowds are going to be large at the official protest sites. The excessive use of force that took place on 30 March, 14 May and 12 October 2018 must not be repeated,” said Canton.
After the commission deliberated, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aviva Raz Shechter, attended a rally in front of the UN building, saying that the report was biased and the HR Council singles out Israel, while ignoring human rights violations in other countries.
The commission found that Israeli security forces shot and wounded 6,016 protestors with live ammunition in the period investigated and that 189 people died at the protest sites, 183 of these from live fire.
The HRC had mandated the commission on May 18, 2018, to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights law relating to the large-scale protests in Gaza from March 30 to Dec. 31, 2018. — NNN-AGENCIES
