General Assembly: Support Goldstone Recommendations on Gaza

In the letter from the groups, which include Physicians for Human Rights in Israel, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza, Open Society Institute, and the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales in Argentina, the NGOs urge the adoption of a resolution by the 64th UNGA which calls upon the Israeli Government and relevant Palestinian authorities to launch "credible, independent investigations of the findings of the Goldstone Report...[that] will promote accountability among all parties to the conflict and put an end to the culture of impunity."

During the 12th Session of the Human Rights Council, Justice Richard Goldstone presented a report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict that found evidence of serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed by both Israeli forces and Hamas fighters. Goldstone concluded that State parties should start criminal investigations where there is evidence of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. The letter specifically asks the United Nations to ensure an independent international mechanism is established to assess investigations by Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

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