In an extraordinary meeting, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to launch an independent investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza after Palestinian calls for Israel to be held accountable for the purported violation of international humanitarian and human rights laws. Meeting in Geneva, the 46-member human rights council supported a Palestinian-drafted resolution by 29 votes, with wide support from Arab, African, South American and Asian countries, including Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. The United States, meanwhile, was the only country that voted against the resolution as all European countries on the council abstained. “This resolution will not help us achieve that goal [of a cease-fire],” said the US Representative in the Human Rights Council, adding that the council’s resolution was a “biased and political instrument” that “failed to address the situation in Israel and in the Palestinian territories with any semblance of balance.” The adopted resolution condemned in the strongest terms the “widespread, systematic and gross violations of international human rights and fundamental freedoms,” of Israel’s Gaza offensive since June 13 2014, which have included the ‘collective punishment’ of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, the aerial…
UN human rights council launches probe into ‘war crimes’ in Gaza despite USA’s disapproval
July 24, 2014
