Groups review Gaza conflict for war crimes (Globe and Mail)

PATRICK MARTIN

GAZA

January 31, 2009 at 2:27 AM EST

Now that Israeli forces have left the Gaza Strip and fighting has largely ended, human-rights organizations are combing the detritus of war, surveying the extensive destruction, interviewing shell-shocked victims and building cases of war crimes against both combatant parties.

While Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute and, therefore, is not subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, nearly all European courts have claimed authority to investigate and prosecute war crimes of other countries. It was a Spanish magistrate who prosecuted the case of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and, just Friday, another Spanish court announced it was investigating several Israeli officials for their alleged role in a 2002 military assault on Gaza.

The main danger to Israelis is expected to come from lawsuits brought by individuals and organizations, rather than governmental attempts to undertake official investigations. “We are preparing for a wave of international lawsuits,” Israeli Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz said.

Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's principal researcher in Israel and the Palestinian territories, warned: “Those <Israelis> giving the orders, and even those pulling the trigger, should not plan on taking any overseas holidays” ...

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