13 Years of International Justice

Today we celebrate International Justice Day.

13 years ago, on July 17, 1998 2002, the Rome Statute came into effect, enabling the creation of the International Criminal Court. A few years later, signers of the Statute designated July 17 as International Justice Day, a day to all come together and celebrate the advances made in international justice – and reflect on ways in which we can strengthen the system and ensure no crimes are left unpunished.

Today, 116 countries have ratified the Rome Statute and are members of the ICC.  To date, three states – Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic – have referred situations in their countries to the Court, the Prosecutor of the ICC has initiated an investigation in Kenya, and the UN Security Council has referred the situations in Darfur, Sudan and Libya to the Court.  The Prosecutor is also in the process of conducting preliminary investigations in several countries, including Colombia and Cote d’Ivoire.

Meanwhile, trials are winding down at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is expected to render a verdict in the Charles Taylor case in the next few months, the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, which are expected to wind down in 2012 and 2013 respectively .

Nevertheless, there remains much to be done to ensure that crimes worldwide are not left unpunished. Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir and Libyan Head of State Colonel M’uammar al-Gaddafi, both of whom have been indicted by the ICC, remain in power and continue to commit crimes with impunity. And in countries such as Sri Lanka and Colombia, little is being done to ensure that victims of crimes have access to justice and accountability.

There are several way you can take action today to celebrate international justice and help bring an end to impunity.

Tweet for International Justice!

Use the #17July hashtag and let us know what #IntlJusticeDay means to you on Twitter.

Take Online Action!

Sudanese President Al Bashir is still free … despite an arrest warrant issued over two years by the ICC. Help Amnesty call on the US to pledge to support the Sudan cases and to help bring Al Bashir to justice.

Watch a Documentary!

Link TV will be airing a special presentation of excerpts from the film, The Reckoning, which details the creation of the ICC and its efforts to prosecute perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. Tune in at 3p PT/6p ET on DirecTV Channel 375 or Dish Channel 9410, or online.

AIUSA welcomes a lively and courteous discussion that follow our Community Guidelines. Comments are not pre-screened before they post but AIUSA reserves the right to remove any comments violating our guidelines.

42 thoughts on “13 Years of International Justice

  1. Here are some international criminals that need the same attention:

    1. Ehud Olmert
    2. Benjamin Netanyahou
    3. Ariel Sharon

  2. There's actually something of an error on this page.
    The Rome Statute was adopted thirteen years ago — on July 17, 1998 — but entered into force on July 1, 2002.
    As you have written it above, you have 2002 happening 13 years ago…

  3. Here are some international criminals that need the same attention:

    1. Ehud Olmert
    2. Benjamin Netanyahou
    3. Ariel Sharon

  4. in addition to what vickie said may I add to the list:

    The entire leadership and membership and all supporters ( including Vickie perhaps ??) world wide of the psychopathic baby murdering criminal terrorist organization Hamas, which Amnesty International has repeatedly accused of War Crimes against Humanity for:

    1) a mass wave of suicide bombings deliberately targeting Israeli women and children which killed nearly a thousand Israeli civilians,

    and

    2) for what Amnesty International has repeatedly described as War Crimes against Humanity, namely the illegal criminal shooting over 20,000 unguided rockets at innocent Israeli women and children in Southern Israel.

  5. There’s actually something of an error on this page.
    The Rome Statute was adopted thirteen years ago — on July 17, 1998 — but entered into force on July 1, 2002.
    As you have written it above, you have 2002 happening 13 years ago…

  6. in addition to what vickie said may I add to the list:

    The entire leadership and membership and all supporters ( including Vickie perhaps ??) world wide of the psychopathic baby murdering criminal terrorist organization Hamas, which Amnesty International has repeatedly accused of War Crimes against Humanity for:

    1) a mass wave of suicide bombings deliberately targeting Israeli women and children which killed nearly a thousand Israeli civilians,

    and

    2) for what Amnesty International has repeatedly described as War Crimes against Humanity, namely the illegal criminal shooting over 20,000 unguided rockets at innocent Israeli women and children in Southern Israel.

  7. vickie's list gets my full endorsement.

    For the names there are the names of the heads of political – military aggression against the indigenous People of the land.

    Sharon's name come up for the invasion of Lebanon as well as Palestine's Occupation.

    Netanyahu's & Olmert'sa, for both as well.

    Judonimh's listing of Hamas as "war criminal" turns the mirror back on Israel.

    For Israel is the Aggressor in Palestine. Not Hamas.

    Israel is the Occupier in Palestine. Not Hamas.

    Gaza IS the blockaded land. NOT Israel.

    Israel is the blockader of Gaza. Not Hamas.

    If you are Invaded, Occupied, & Blockaded, you have the NATURAL RIGHT to fightBACK in self defense.

    By ANY & ALL means.

    In fact, it is Imperialism & Colonialism that daily, hourly, & on a mass scale BIRTHS the very Resistance it condemns.

    It creates its own vicious circle.

    Hitler, too, was enraged by the Allied bombing of Germany.

    But it was HE who brought it on himself.

    Palestinian rockets are not even a MILLIONTH as effective as the Allied bombing.

    But they are as justifiable.

    And as INEVITABLE.

  8. Hey Savage

    You truly grow ever more repulsive with time with your desperate and feeble attempts to justify the murder of Israeli babies. Now your argument has deformed into a justification for the incineration of German and Japanese babies.

    I know this will be news to the ears of a person like yourself who feels knowledgeable enough to post so many comments on the web site of a human rights group but following World War II exactly because of the use of random mass bombing on civilians by both sides the whole world got together and created something called the Geneva Convention of 1949 and a new concept called Crimes against Humanity, specifically outlawing random bombing of civilian women and children. As a direct result, Amnesty International was formed.

    So don't come on here to Amnesty's blog and describe allied fire bombings which indiscriminately killed millions of German and Japanese civilians in Dresden as justifiable.

    Cause guess what? The Allies weren't justified in deliberately killing german and Japanese women and babies, no more than the rape of Nanking or the Blitz was justified.

    And neither was this: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,HRW,,ISR,,…
    Human Rights Watch
    published 1 November 2002

    "The people responsible for planning and carrying out suicide bombings that deliberately target civilians are guilty of crimes against humanity and should be brought to justice,

    Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. The 170-page report is the first full-fledged examination of individual criminal responsibility for suicide bombings against civilians in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories.

    The report, Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks against Israeli Civilians, also provides the most thorough study to date of the suicide bombing operations of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the groups that have claimed responsibility for almost all recent suicide bombings. Since January 2001,

    Well-established principles of international law require that those in authority be held accountable when people under their control commit war crimes or crimes against humanity. Leaders who order such crimes, fail to take reasonable preventive action, or fail to punish the perpetrators are also responsible for such crimes. "

  9. Hey Savage

    You truly grow ever more repulsive with time with your desperate and feeble attempts to justify the murder of Israeli babies. Now your argument has deformed into a justification for the incineration of German and Japanese babies.

    I know this will be news to the ears of a person like yourself who feels knowledgeable enough to post so many comments on the web site of a human rights group but following World War II exactly because of the use of random mass bombing on civilians by both sides the whole world got together and created something called the Geneva Convention of 1949 and a new concept called Crimes against Humanity, specifically outlawing random bombing of civilian women and children. As a direct result, Amnesty International was formed.

    So don't come on here to Amnesty's blog and describe allied fire bombings which indiscriminately killed millions of German and Japanese civilians in Dresden as justifiable.

    Cause guess what? The Allies weren't justified in deliberately killing german and Japanese women and babies, no more than the rape of Nanking or the Blitz was justified.

    And neither was this: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,HRW,,ISR,,…
    Human Rights Watch
    published 1 November 2002

    "The people responsible for planning and carrying out suicide bombings that deliberately target civilians are guilty of crimes against humanity and should be brought to justice,

    Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. The 170-page report is the first full-fledged examination of individual criminal responsibility for suicide bombings against civilians in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories.

    The report, Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks against Israeli Civilians, also provides the most thorough study to date of the suicide bombing operations of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the groups that have claimed responsibility for almost all recent suicide bombings. Since January 2001,

    Well-established principles of international law require that those in authority be held accountable when people under their control commit war crimes or crimes against humanity. Leaders who order such crimes, fail to take reasonable preventive action, or fail to punish the perpetrators are also responsible for such crimes. "

  10. Hey Savage

    You truly grow ever more repulsive with time with your desperate and feeble attempts to justify the murder of Israeli babies. Now your argument has deformed into a justification for the incineration of German and Japanese babies.

    I know this will be news to the ears of a person like yourself who feels knowledgeable enough to post so many comments on the web site of a human rights group but following World War II exactly because of the use of random mass bombing on civilians by both sides the whole world got together and created something called the Geneva Convention of 1949 and a new concept called Crimes against Humanity, specifically outlawing random bombing of civilian women and children. As a direct result, Amnesty International was formed.

    So don't come on here to Amnesty's blog and describe allied fire bombings which indiscriminately killed millions of German and Japanese civilians in Dresden as justifiable.

    Cause guess what? The Allies weren't justified in deliberately killing german and Japanese women and babies, no more than the rape of Nanking or the Blitz was justified.

    And neither was this: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,HRW,,ISR,,…
    Human Rights Watch
    published 1 November 2002

    "The people responsible for planning and carrying out suicide bombings that deliberately target civilians are guilty of crimes against humanity and should be brought to justice,

    Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. The 170-page report is the first full-fledged examination of individual criminal responsibility for suicide bombings against civilians in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories.

    The report, Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks against Israeli Civilians, also provides the most thorough study to date of the suicide bombing operations of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the groups that have claimed responsibility for almost all recent suicide bombings. Since January 2001,

    Well-established principles of international law require that those in authority be held accountable when people under their control commit war crimes or crimes against humanity. Leaders who order such crimes, fail to take reasonable preventive action, or fail to punish the perpetrators are also responsible for such crimes. "

  11. vickie’s list gets my full endorsement.

    For the names there are the names of the heads of political – military aggression against the indigenous People of the land.

    Sharon’s name come up for the invasion of Lebanon as well as Palestine’s Occupation.

    Netanyahu’s & Olmert’sa, for both as well.

    Judonimh’s listing of Hamas as “war criminal” turns the mirror back on Israel.

    For Israel is the Aggressor in Palestine. Not Hamas.

    Israel is the Occupier in Palestine. Not Hamas.

    Gaza IS the blockaded land. NOT Israel.

    Israel is the blockader of Gaza. Not Hamas.

    If you are Invaded, Occupied, & Blockaded, you have the NATURAL RIGHT to fightBACK in self defense.

    By ANY & ALL means.

    In fact, it is Imperialism & Colonialism that daily, hourly, & on a mass scale BIRTHS the very Resistance it condemns.

    It creates its own vicious circle.

    Hitler, too, was enraged by the Allied bombing of Germany.

    But it was HE who brought it on himself.

    Palestinian rockets are not even a MILLIONTH as effective as the Allied bombing.

    But they are as justifiable.

    And as INEVITABLE.

  12. Hey Savage

    You truly grow ever more repulsive with time with your desperate and feeble attempts to justify the murder of Israeli babies. Now your argument has deformed into a justification for the incineration of German and Japanese babies.

    I know this will be news to the ears of a person like yourself who feels knowledgeable enough to post so many comments on the web site of a human rights group but following World War II exactly because of the use of random mass bombing on civilians by both sides the whole world got together and created something called the Geneva Convention of 1949 and a new concept called Crimes against Humanity, specifically outlawing random bombing of civilian women and children. As a direct result, Amnesty International was formed.

    So don’t come on here to Amnesty’s blog and describe allied fire bombings which indiscriminately killed millions of German and Japanese civilians in Dresden as justifiable.

    Cause guess what? The Allies weren’t justified in deliberately killing german and Japanese women and babies, no more than the rape of Nanking or the Blitz was justified.

    And neither was this:
    http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,HRW,,ISR,,3dc9379d4,0.html
    Human Rights Watch
    published 1 November 2002

    “The people responsible for planning and carrying out suicide bombings that deliberately target civilians are guilty of crimes against humanity and should be brought to justice,

    Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. The 170-page report is the first full-fledged examination of individual criminal responsibility for suicide bombings against civilians in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories.

    The report, Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks against Israeli Civilians, also provides the most thorough study to date of the suicide bombing operations of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the groups that have claimed responsibility for almost all recent suicide bombings. Since January 2001,

    Well-established principles of international law require that those in authority be held accountable when people under their control commit war crimes or crimes against humanity. Leaders who order such crimes, fail to take reasonable preventive action, or fail to punish the perpetrators are also responsible for such crimes. “

  13. Hitler couldn't have complained about the bombing, having started a global conflagration himself.

    i don't condone Dresden's bombing.

    But be careful not to invade others.

    Or the fire you light will engulf you.

    THAT's the inevitable thing.

    ***********

    Let's see Palestine.

    My point : When you invade, occupy, & CONTINUOUSLYdispossess a people, & then BLOCKADE them … they WILL resist you.

    Since they're weaker in arms, they'll make you feel their pain as best they can.

    THAT's inevitable.

    i am not going to the question of justification at all.

    Since your power is superior enough to invade & occupy them, the UNEVENNESS of strength leaves them little choice in the matter.

    The only choice here is yours.

    To stop invading, occupying, dispossessing, & blockading them.

    *******************

    No one is justifying the murder of Israeli babies.

    To see this issue that Judonimh raises, the killing of children ….. let's see it as it can only be seen.

    In its FULL context. Including both Palestinians & Israelis.

    In the last ten years, at least 255 Palestinian children have been shot in the head & killed by Israeli soldiers.

    Deliberately.

    Many MORE were shot in the head … but they continued to live.

    Take the year 2001.

    103 Palestinian children were killed by Israeli soldiers that year.

    31 of them were shot in the head.

    Let's see the casualities for 2006, for both Palestinians & Israelis.

    That year the Israeli military killed 665 Palestinians, including 139 children.

    The Palestinians killed 23 Israelis, including 2 children.

    From the year 2000 till now, how many children have actually been killed on both sides ?

    The Israeli military has killed at least 1, 452 Palestinian children.

    The Palestinians have killed 124 Israeli children in the same period.

    NINETY ONE Palestinian children were killed by the Israeli military before a SINGLE Israeli child was killed by the Palestinians.

    This is the inhuman battlefield that Israel's Occupation has imposed on the land & the indigenous People.

    For over half a century.

    & continuing.

    This war is here, brought to the indigenous people & their land by Zionism, & they must fight it to survive.

    If they don't, they will perish.

  14. I did not check the accuracy of your figures against the Bt'selem statistics but I do know that a large majority, (up to 90% ? ), of all Palestinian children who tragically died in these years of bloodshed were listed by BtSelem as being 16 and 17 year old males, and many of these kids whose lives were so sadly ended before they even could choose for themselves as adults were recorded by B'tselem to be confirmed as acting in the role of armed combatants at the time of death.

    Amnesty and many other human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned all the Palestinian factions for widespread use of children in combat, i.e. child soldiers, some as young as 10 years old.

    16 and 17 year old Palestinian boys in their tens of thousands were used as front line cannon fodder by the Palestinian Armed groups, recalling the Basiji child human wave attacks of the 1980's Iran Iraq War in which hundreds of thousands of Iranian children were distributed plastic keys with which to "open the gates of heaven" and then driven on foot into Iraqi mine fields to clear the way of mines for the brave soldiers of the Ayatollahs to follow.

    So this blanket use of child soldiers you kindly reminded us of in your post above, as exhaustively documented by Amnesty, is yet another war crime for which the commanders of the Palestinian Armed Factions will one day be prosecuted and brought to justice in the ICC.

  15. Hitler couldn’t have complained about the bombing, having started a global conflagration himself.

    i don’t condone Dresden’s bombing.

    But be careful not to invade others.

    Or the fire you light will engulf you.

    THAT’s the inevitable thing.

    ***********

    Let’s see Palestine.

    My point : When you invade, occupy, & CONTINUOUSLYdispossess a people, & then BLOCKADE them … they WILL resist you.

    Since they’re weaker in arms, they’ll make you feel their pain as best they can.

    THAT’s inevitable.

    i am not going to the question of justification at all.

    Since your power is superior enough to invade & occupy them, the UNEVENNESS of strength leaves them little choice in the matter.

    The only choice here is yours.

    To stop invading, occupying, dispossessing, & blockading them.

    *******************

    No one is justifying the murder of Israeli babies.

    To see this issue that Judonimh raises, the killing of children ….. let’s see it as it can only be seen.

    In its FULL context. Including both Palestinians & Israelis.

    In the last ten years, at least 255 Palestinian children have been shot in the head & killed by Israeli soldiers.

    Deliberately.

    Many MORE were shot in the head … but they continued to live.

    Take the year 2001.

    103 Palestinian children were killed by Israeli soldiers that year.

    31 of them were shot in the head.

    Let’s see the casualities for 2006, for both Palestinians & Israelis.

    That year the Israeli military killed 665 Palestinians, including 139 children.

    The Palestinians killed 23 Israelis, including 2 children.

    From the year 2000 till now, how many children have actually been killed on both sides ?

    The Israeli military has killed at least 1, 452 Palestinian children.

    The Palestinians have killed 124 Israeli children in the same period.

    NINETY ONE Palestinian children were killed by the Israeli military before a SINGLE Israeli child was killed by the Palestinians.

    This is the inhuman battlefield that Israel’s Occupation has imposed on the land & the indigenous People.

    For over half a century.

    & continuing.

    This war is here, brought to the indigenous people & their land by Zionism, & they must fight it to survive.

    If they don’t, they will perish.

  16. I did not check the accuracy of your figures against the Bt’selem statistics but I do know that a large majority, (up to 90% ? ), of all Palestinian children who tragically died in these years of bloodshed were listed by BtSelem as being 16 and 17 year old males, and many of these kids whose lives were so sadly ended before they even could choose for themselves as adults were recorded by B’tselem to be confirmed as acting in the role of armed combatants at the time of death.

    Amnesty and many other human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned all the Palestinian factions for widespread use of children in combat, i.e. child soldiers, some as young as 10 years old.

    16 and 17 year old Palestinian boys in their tens of thousands were used as front line cannon fodder by the Palestinian Armed groups, recalling the Basiji child human wave attacks of the 1980’s Iran Iraq War in which hundreds of thousands of Iranian children were distributed plastic keys with which to “open the gates of heaven” and then driven on foot into Iraqi mine fields to clear the way of mines for the brave soldiers of the Ayatollahs to follow.

    So this blanket use of child soldiers you kindly reminded us of in your post above, as exhaustively documented by Amnesty, is yet another war crime for which the commanders of the Palestinian Armed Factions will one day be prosecuted and brought to justice in the ICC.

  17. How soften the impact of a high velocity bullet from an Israeli sniper's rifle in a child's body ?

    Judonimh's spin solution : show the child to be a "child soldier".

    Stereotypecast all the children.

    Reality : There are no child soldiers in Palestine.

    The children are killed within their own communities.

    The only soldiers around — IDF.

    Here are some of the dead.

    Sami, 12, head shot by IDF, at a demonstration.

    Abdul, 9, head shot, at funeral.

    Ala, 14, head shot by IDF, at home.

    Omar, 11, head shot by IDF, demonstration.

    Diya, 3 months, head shot by settler.

    Bara, 10, head shot by IDF, near home.

    Ayman, 15, tank fire to the head, while farming.

    Khalil, 11, tank fire to the head, while playing.

    Rami, 13, helicopter fire to the head, while playing.

    Yaser, 11, head shot, demonstration.

    Small boy, brain dead from Israeli head shot, Gaza, long before any rockets were launched from the Strip.

    Another boy, 14, head shot, critical condition, while collecting rubble.

    Tom Hurndall, 21, Gaza, head shot in 2003 trying to save 3 children, ages 4 – 7, under IDF fire. He saved a boy, then came back for the 2 girls when IDF shot him.

    He lived in a coma, died 2004.

    A huge ( partial ) list of the underaged Palestinian dead has been compiled by Western volunteer organizations.

    Not a single child soldier.

    45, 000 Palestinian men, women & children killed or wounded by Israeli forces since Sept 29, 2000.

  18. Long become accustomed to Judonimh's tactical propaganda games.

    i have no more time for them.

    What turned me totally away from his "games" was his response to my call for nuclear disarmament in the MidEast.

    He said this call for a nukefree MidEast meant i was calling for "conventional war" with "mass casualties" instead.

    This positing of completely false dichotomies is not an answer to a problem on any issue.

    i judge every issue solely on its own merit, directly, to see if it's valid ( true ).

    For i have a responsibility to readers or to the concerned people.

    In future i can no longer respond to such tactics.

    i have my work & studies to do.

  19. Palestine.

    History's latest war by a settler state against a Native People.

    While we critique the Apartheid Apparatus, we have to be OUR OWN GREATEST CRITICS to temper & balance judgment.

    1. My point about the Allied bombing of Germany being justified, isn't …. plus it's erroneous as analogy.

    i am utterly indebted to Judonimh for pointing this out to me.

    2. Been doing my studies & thinking.

    i find i am no longer comfortable with the simplistic "any & all means" solution.

    Definitely not "any & all means" in general.

    Even ( especially ) considering the profound dilemma Israel's unchecked power has put the increasingly dispossessed Native Palestinian People & the whole world's volunteer community in.

    Am especially indebted to Robert Fisk's voluminous writings for revealing this to me.

    The past is littered with wrong ( & discarded ) tactics.

    As well as valuable ones & their teachings.

    Only those methods & ways that UINITE an entire people's CREATIVITY should be looked for, & adopted.

    The struggle will help us find them.

  20. Amnesty International Condemns Palestinian Use of Children for Terror
    (March 24, 2004)

    " Amnesty International is gravely concerned about reports that earlier today a 14-year-old Palestinian child was found to be carrying explosives when attempting to pass through the Israeli army checkpoint at Huwara, at the entrance of the West Bank town of Nablus.

    Reports indicate that the boy was wearing an explosive belt, which would suggest that he was knowingly carrying it. According to Israeli army reports the boy may have intended to detonate the explosive belt, and thus commit suicide, near soldiers manning the checkpoint.

    Last week, Israeli soldiers discovered a bag of explosives in the possession of an 11-year old Palestinian child at the same checkpoint.

    Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians by Palestinian armed groups as crimes against humanity. Using children to carry out or assist in armed attacks of any kind is an abomination. We call on the Palestinian leadership to publicly denounce these practices.

    Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs's brigades, must put an immediate end to the use or involvement of any kind of children in armed activity.

    Background Information

    In the past three years there have been numerous other cases in which Palestinian children have been used by Palestinian armed groups to carry out or attempt to carry out suicide bombings or other attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

    In January a 17-year-old Palestinian detonated an explosive belt he was wearing as he was being tracked down by Israeli soldiers, killing himself and without hurting anyone else. He had reportedly been given the explosive belt by members of the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad.

    Palestinian armed groups have also threatened families of those who have been killed while carrying out attacks, including children, not to condemn but to welcome and endorse their relatives' actions. "

  21. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
    Public Statement

    23 May 2005
    Israel/Occupied Territories:

    Palestinian armed groups must not use children

    Amnesty International reiterates its calls to Palestinian armed groups to put an immediate end to the use of children in armed activities.

    “Palestinian armed groups must not use children under any circumstances to carry out armed attacks or to transport weapons or other material”, Amnesty International said.

    Several Palestinian armed groups, including the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, an offshoot of the ruling Fatah party, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), have used children to transport explosives and munitions, thereby endangering their lives.

    In some cases these groups have sent children to carry out suicide attacks.

    108 Israeli children and have killed and hundreds of others injured by Palestinian armed groups in deliberate attacks against Israeli civilians in Israel and in the Occupied Territories.

    On 1 November 2004 a 16-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank town of Nablus carried out a suicide bombing which killed three Israeli civilians in a Tel Aviv market. The PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack. The boy’s family condemned those who used their child for the attack.

    Palestinian armed groups have repeatedly shown total disregard for the most fundamental human rights, notably the right to life, by deliberately targeting Israeli civilians and by using Palestinian children in armed attacks.

    “The exploitation of children, who are often particularly vulnerable or traumatized, by armed groups and armed forces must cease at once, and those responsible for such crimes must be brought to justice”, said Amnesty International.

  22. Palestinian casualties in the 2nd Intifada were less than 5% female, and more than 95% were male.

    On the other hand, out the tens of thousands of Israelis killed and wounded, mostly from suicide bombings, about 50% were female, 50% were male.

    This fact alone should indicate to anyone with half a brain that only one side of the conflict, namely the Palestinian side, was deliberately targeting and killing random innocent civilians, an illegal Crime against Humanity under the 1949 Geneva convention.

  23. How soften the impact of a high velocity bullet from an Israeli sniper’s rifle in a child’s body ?

    Judonimh’s spin solution : show the child to be a “child soldier”.

    Stereotypecast all the children.

    Reality : There are no child soldiers in Palestine.

    The children are killed within their own communities.

    The only soldiers around — IDF.

    Here are some of the dead.

    Sami, 12, head shot by IDF, at a demonstration.

    Abdul, 9, head shot, at funeral.

    Ala, 14, head shot by IDF, at home.

    Omar, 11, head shot by IDF, demonstration.

    Diya, 3 months, head shot by settler.

    Bara, 10, head shot by IDF, near home.

    Ayman, 15, tank fire to the head, while farming.

    Khalil, 11, tank fire to the head, while playing.

    Rami, 13, helicopter fire to the head, while playing.

    Yaser, 11, head shot, demonstration.

    Small boy, brain dead from Israeli head shot, Gaza, long before any rockets were launched from the Strip.

    Another boy, 14, head shot, critical condition, while collecting rubble.

    Tom Hurndall, 21, Gaza, head shot in 2003 trying to save 3 children, ages 4 – 7, under IDF fire. He saved a boy, then came back for the 2 girls when IDF shot him.

    He lived in a coma, died 2004.

    A huge ( partial ) list of the underaged Palestinian dead has been compiled by Western volunteer organizations.

    Not a single child soldier.

    45, 000 Palestinian men, women & children killed or wounded by Israeli forces since Sept 29, 2000.

  24. Long become accustomed to Judonimh’s tactical propaganda games.

    i have no more time for them.

    What turned me totally away from his “games” was his response to my call for nuclear disarmament in the MidEast.

    He said this call for a nukefree MidEast meant i was calling for “conventional war” with “mass casualties” instead.

    This positing of completely false dichotomies is not an answer to a problem on any issue.

    i judge every issue solely on its own merit, directly, to see if it’s valid ( true ).

    For i have a responsibility to readers or to the concerned people.

    In future i can no longer respond to such tactics.

    i have my work & studies to do.

  25. Palestine.

    History’s latest war by a settler state against a Native People.

    While we critique the Apartheid Apparatus, we have to be OUR OWN GREATEST CRITICS to temper & balance judgment.

    1. My point about the Allied bombing of Germany being justified, isn’t …. plus it’s erroneous as analogy.

    i am utterly indebted to Judonimh for pointing this out to me.

    2. Been doing my studies & thinking.

    i find i am no longer comfortable with the simplistic “any & all means” solution.

    Definitely not “any & all means” in general.

    Even ( especially ) considering the profound dilemma Israel’s unchecked power has put the increasingly dispossessed Native Palestinian People & the whole world’s volunteer community in.

    Am especially indebted to Robert Fisk’s voluminous writings for revealing this to me.

    The past is littered with wrong ( & discarded ) tactics.

    As well as valuable ones & their teachings.

    Only those methods & ways that UINITE an entire people’s CREATIVITY should be looked for, & adopted.

    The struggle will help us find them.

  26. Amnesty International Condemns Palestinian Use of Children for Terror
    (March 24, 2004)

    ” Amnesty International is gravely concerned about reports that earlier today a 14-year-old Palestinian child was found to be carrying explosives when attempting to pass through the Israeli army checkpoint at Huwara, at the entrance of the West Bank town of Nablus.

    Reports indicate that the boy was wearing an explosive belt, which would suggest that he was knowingly carrying it. According to Israeli army reports the boy may have intended to detonate the explosive belt, and thus commit suicide, near soldiers manning the checkpoint.

    Last week, Israeli soldiers discovered a bag of explosives in the possession of an 11-year old Palestinian child at the same checkpoint.

    Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians by Palestinian armed groups as crimes against humanity. Using children to carry out or assist in armed attacks of any kind is an abomination. We call on the Palestinian leadership to publicly denounce these practices.

    Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs’s brigades, must put an immediate end to the use or involvement of any kind of children in armed activity.

    Background Information

    In the past three years there have been numerous other cases in which Palestinian children have been used by Palestinian armed groups to carry out or attempt to carry out suicide bombings or other attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

    In January a 17-year-old Palestinian detonated an explosive belt he was wearing as he was being tracked down by Israeli soldiers, killing himself and without hurting anyone else. He had reportedly been given the explosive belt by members of the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad.

    Palestinian armed groups have also threatened families of those who have been killed while carrying out attacks, including children, not to condemn but to welcome and endorse their relatives’ actions. “

  27. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
    Public Statement

    23 May 2005
    Israel/Occupied Territories:

    Palestinian armed groups must not use children

    Amnesty International reiterates its calls to Palestinian armed groups to put an immediate end to the use of children in armed activities.

    “Palestinian armed groups must not use children under any circumstances to carry out armed attacks or to transport weapons or other material”, Amnesty International said.

    Several Palestinian armed groups, including the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, an offshoot of the ruling Fatah party, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), have used children to transport explosives and munitions, thereby endangering their lives.

    In some cases these groups have sent children to carry out suicide attacks.

    108 Israeli children and have killed and hundreds of others injured by Palestinian armed groups in deliberate attacks against Israeli civilians in Israel and in the Occupied Territories.

    On 1 November 2004 a 16-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank town of Nablus carried out a suicide bombing which killed three Israeli civilians in a Tel Aviv market. The PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack. The boy’s family condemned those who used their child for the attack.

    Palestinian armed groups have repeatedly shown total disregard for the most fundamental human rights, notably the right to life, by deliberately targeting Israeli civilians and by using Palestinian children in armed attacks.

    “The exploitation of children, who are often particularly vulnerable or traumatized, by armed groups and armed forces must cease at once, and those responsible for such crimes must be brought to justice”, said Amnesty International.

  28. Palestinian casualties in the 2nd Intifada were less than 5% female, and more than 95% were male.

    On the other hand, out the tens of thousands of Israelis killed and wounded, mostly from suicide bombings, about 50% were female, 50% were male.

    This fact alone should indicate to anyone with half a brain that only one side of the conflict, namely the Palestinian side, was deliberately targeting and killing random innocent civilians, an illegal Crime against Humanity under the 1949 Geneva convention.

  29. i trust any report by Amnesty on this issue.

    Groups fighting against the Occupation & the blockade should not use children to transport explosives, even though Israel's Occupation has brought the war & total MILITARIZATION of life into the Palestinian communities.

    The children are not "child soldiers", for the Palestinians don't have armies.

    The children are part of the Underground, the People's Resistance,when their whole society's driven Underground.

    But they should be cared for & exempted from armed activities.

    ***************

    Even so, the children who are dying are NOT dying in battles or firefights.

    Not even in any kind of armed encounter.

    Not even as casualties of crossfire.

    They are being killed in mundane civilian settings.

    While at play. At work . On the way from school.

    By the Israeli Army that runs their lives & every detail of their movements.

    By the Army that protects only the settlers who are AS heavily armed as the Israeli soldiers.

    It is the nature of all Occupations to do so.

    The Army has militarized all sectors of Palestinian society under its Occupation.

    The indigenous People live under military rule, military law.

    *************

    The casualties on both sides can't be seen in isolation.

    They must be seen in comparison.

    & there the gap in suffering widens into a Void.

    No parity. Not even remotely.

    No similarity.

    No protection for Palestinians.

    Only for the Occupation's forces & settlers.

    & the Occupation will continue to breed Death.

    & bear the final Responsibility for the deaths of all.

    Including those of its own.

  30. 2 historical laws govern all Occupations .

    2 paradoxes.

    1. All Occupations ultimately result in indiscriminate killing by the Occupiers.

    The military historian William Polk shows how.

    2. All Occupations are untenable.

    The more they go on, the more untenable they become.

    Sun Tzu shows why.

  31. i trust any report by Amnesty on this issue.

    Groups fighting against the Occupation & the blockade should not use children to transport explosives, even though Israel’s Occupation has brought the war & total MILITARIZATION of life into the Palestinian communities.

    The children are not “child soldiers”, for the Palestinians don’t have armies.

    The children are part of the Underground, the People’s Resistance,when their whole society’s driven Underground.

    But they should be cared for & exempted from armed activities.

    ***************

    Even so, the children who are dying are NOT dying in battles or firefights.

    Not even in any kind of armed encounter.

    Not even as casualties of crossfire.

    They are being killed in mundane civilian settings.

    While at play. At work . On the way from school.

    By the Israeli Army that runs their lives & every detail of their movements.

    By the Army that protects only the settlers who are AS heavily armed as the Israeli soldiers.

    It is the nature of all Occupations to do so.

    The Army has militarized all sectors of Palestinian society under its Occupation.

    The indigenous People live under military rule, military law.

    *************

    The casualties on both sides can’t be seen in isolation.

    They must be seen in comparison.

    & there the gap in suffering widens into a Void.

    No parity. Not even remotely.

    No similarity.

    No protection for Palestinians.

    Only for the Occupation’s forces & settlers.

    & the Occupation will continue to breed Death.

    & bear the final Responsibility for the deaths of all.

    Including those of its own.

  32. 2 historical laws govern all Occupations .

    2 paradoxes.

    1. All Occupations ultimately result in indiscriminate killing by the Occupiers.

    The military historian William Polk shows how.

    2. All Occupations are untenable.

    The more they go on, the more untenable they become.

    Sun Tzu shows why.

  33. According to the pro-Palestinian human rights group BtSelem, since the 19th of January, 2009 till today's date, i.e. the last 2.5 years, there have been exactly 12 Palestinian children under age 16 killed by Israelis total, and 4 Israeli children under age 16 killed by Palestinians.

    Even one single child's life lost on either side is an unspeakable tragedy, ( we can agree on that at least ? ) and hopefully one day soon there will be peace and all killing can stop forever,

    But, 16 deaths of kids on both sides combined over the last about 36 months is a very low amount compared to dozens of other conflicts going on right now, or compared to the tens of thousands of Somali children who starved to death in the last week alone, or compared to the hundreds of Syrian young people shot down in the street by their own government in the just last few months.

    So please stop exaggerating this all out of proportion .

  34. According to the pro-Palestinian human rights group BtSelem, since the 19th of January, 2009 till today’s date, i.e. the last 2.5 years, there have been exactly 12 Palestinian children under age 16 killed by Israelis total, and 4 Israeli children under age 16 killed by Palestinians.

    Even one single child’s life lost on either side is an unspeakable tragedy, ( we can agree on that at least ? ) and hopefully one day soon there will be peace and all killing can stop forever,

    But, 16 deaths of kids on both sides combined over the last about 36 months is a very low amount compared to dozens of other conflicts going on right now, or compared to the tens of thousands of Somali children who starved to death in the last week alone, or compared to the hundreds of Syrian young people shot down in the street by their own government in the just last few months.

    So please stop exaggerating this all out of proportion .

  35. "International Justice", my foot. It's simply a kangaroo court where the West judges the rest of the non-Western world.

    In 2000, the UK foreign secretary Robin Cook said that ICC was "‘not a court set up to bring to book prime ministers of the United Kingdom or presidents of the United States’."
    http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/artic

    I'll believe in 'international justice' when some Western leaders are lead there in chains and made to account for their crimes, also. Until then it remains fatally compromised. Perhaps Ms Rousselot could showcase her considerable intellect to explain this glaring disparity?

  36. "International Justice", my foot. It's simply a kangaroo court where the West judges the rest of the non-Western world.

    In 2000, the UK foreign secretary Robin Cook said that ICC was "‘not a court set up to bring to book prime ministers of the United Kingdom or presidents of the United States’."
    http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/artic

    I'll believe in 'international justice' when some Western leaders are lead there in chains and made to account for their crimes, also. Until then it remains fatally compromised. Perhaps Ms Rousselot could showcase her considerable intellect to explain this glaring disparity?

  37. "International Justice", my foot. It's simply a kangaroo court where the West judges the rest of the non-Western world.

    In 2000, the UK foreign secretary Robin Cook said that ICC was "‘not a court set up to bring to book prime ministers of the United Kingdom or presidents of the United States’."
    http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/artic

    I'll believe in 'international justice' when some Western leaders are lead there in chains and made to account for their crimes, also. Until then it remains fatally compromised. Perhaps Ms Rousselot could showcase her considerable intellect to explain this glaring disparity?

  38. “International Justice”, my foot. It’s simply a kangaroo court where the West judges the rest of the non-Western world.

    In 2000, the UK foreign secretary Robin Cook said that ICC was “‘not a court set up to bring to book prime ministers of the United Kingdom or presidents of the United States’.”

    http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/10289/

    I’ll believe in ‘international justice’ when some Western leaders are lead there in chains and made to account for their crimes, also. Until then it remains fatally compromised. Perhaps Ms Rousselot could showcase her considerable intellect to explain this glaring disparity?

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