fbpx

News

UN Commission delays Gaza report publication until June

[ssba]

The United Nations (UN) commission of inquiry over Operation Protective Edge has requested that the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) grant a three-month extension on the report’s publication. The report was originally scheduled for later this month.

The request, which the UNHCR is expected to approve, comes after the commission’s chosen head, Prof William Schabas resigned towards the start of February. Schabas, a Canadian international law expert who teaches at Middlesex University is an outspoken critic of Israel. However, he stepped down after it emerged that in 2012 he had been paid £865 to provide a legal opinion to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). The revelation prompted the UNHCR to seek legal advice on Schabas’s position and triggered his resignation.

The commission has subsequently been headed by former New York Supreme Court judge Mary McGowan Davis, who sent a letter to UNHCR President Joachim Ruecker, requesting an extension to the inquiry. She said, “The Commission must analyse with the utmost objectivity the large number of additional submissions and documents received over the past few weeks from both sides, relating to the fact-finding dimension of our mandate.” Ruecker confirmed that, “The commissioners have indicated their desire for more time in order to assess the information that they have collected – much of which has only been received in recent weeks.” He added that these are “complex issues” which “should not be rushed under any circumstances.”

Israel decided not to cooperate with the investigation in light of several factors. The commission’s mandate appeared to target Israel, while the UNHRC itself has a track record of hostility towards Israel. However, Israeli officials did give the green light for residents of southern Israel to give their testimony in January after thousands of rockets were fired at their communities during last summer’s conflict.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) would like the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to use the commission’s findings as a basis for prosecutions against Israelis, after the PA successfully applied for membership last year.