Ha'aretz

Thursday, July 11, 2002 Av 2, 5762 Israel Time: 02:52 (GMT+3) Last update - 07:59 11/07/2002 Amnesty condemns Palestinian 'crimes against humanity' By Joseph Algazy, Ha'aretz Correspondent A new Amnesty International report called "Without distinction: Attacks on civilians by Palestinian armed groups," calls Palestinian attacks on civilians "crimes against humanity" and murder, and says they may also constitute war crimes.

"The attacks by Palestinian armed groups are widespread, systematic and in pursuit of an explicit policy to attack civilians. They therefore constitute crimes against humanity under international law," the human rights group says in the report, adding that they may also represent "war crimes," depending on the legal status of the armed Palestinian groups under international humanitarian law.

A senior Amnesty official in Israel said Wednesday that the report recommends that the Palestinian Authority act both legally and in the publis sphere against attacks on civilians.

The organization refutes claims by militant organizations such as Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine that "under all international declarations and laws, Palestinians are entitled to defend and liberate their land by all means and to redeem their integrity."

The Amnesty International report says that "Attacks on civilians are not permitted under any internationally recognized standard of law, whether they are committed in the context of a struggle against military occupation or any other context.

"Not only are they considered murder under general principles of law in every national legal system, they are contrary to fundamental principles of humanity which are reflected in international humanitarian law. In the manner in which they are being committed in Israel and the Occupied Territories they also amount to crimes against humanity."

The 44-page report is due to be hand-delivered to President Moshe Katsav on Thursday by an Amnesty International delegation headed by Maya Sanderson, chairman of the Israel branch of the organization.

The report, based on extensive interviews with victims and survivors of terror attacks, as well as with such figures as Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin, notes that for many years the organization has documented "violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by Israel in the occupied territories.

"These include unlawful killings; torture and ill-treatment; arbitrary detention; unfair trials; collective punishments such as punitive closures of areas and destruction of homes; extensive and wanton destruction of property; deportations; and discriminatory treatment as compared to Israeli settlers."

However, the report stresses, "no violations by the Israeli government, no matter their scale or gravity, justify the killing of Sinai Kenan, Danielle Shefi, Chana Rogan, or any other civilians" killed in Palestinian attacks.

The report says that "many Palestinians who support armed resistance, as well as those who support non-violent action, believe that targeting civilians is morally and/or strategically wrong ... But the critics have in general not been as open or prominent in public as advocates for armed attacks who support, condone or do not criticize attacks on civilians."

While avoiding the explicit use of the term terrorist "because it does not have an internationally agreed definition," the report instead refers to "attacks against civilians." These are defined either as "attacks in which the direct object of the attack is the civilian population generally, or individual civilians," and as "indiscriminate attacks" - including attacks that "fail to distinguish" between civilian and military objectives, and attacks that "while directed at military targets, cause disproportionate harm to civilians or civilian objects."

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2002