Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: I morti israeliani contano meno

Un'analisi dell'asimmetria del media
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3286880,00.html
-- 
Diario di guerra
www.tonibaruch.blogspot.com

 Un'analisi dell'asimmetria del media
e dei blog dei goebbelsucci rosapugnettari
Some Israeli Attacks Amount to War Crimes
(Beirut, August 3, 2006) – Israeli forces have systematically failed to
distinguish between combatants and civilians in their military campaign
against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said in report released
today. The pattern of attacks in more than 20 cases investigated by Human
Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon indicates that the failures cannot be
dismissed as mere accidents and cannot be blamed on wrongful Hezbollah
practices. In some cases, these attacks constitute war crimes. 
 The pattern of attacks shows the Israeli military’s disturbing disregard
for the lives of Lebanese civilians. Our research shows that Israel’s
claim that Hezbollah fighters are hiding among civilians does not explain,
let alone justify, Israel’s indiscriminate warfare. 
 
The 50-page report, “Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks
Against Civilians in Lebanon,” analyzes almost two dozen cases of Israeli
air and artillery attacks on civilian homes and vehicles. Of the 153 dead
civilians named in the report, 63 are children. More than 500 people have
been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire since fighting began on July 12,
most of them civilians.  
 
“The pattern of attacks shows the Israeli military’s disturbing disregard
for the lives of Lebanese civilians,” said Kenneth Roth, executive
director of Human Rights Watch. “Our research shows that Israel’s claim
that Hezbollah fighters are hiding among civilians does not explain, let
alone justify, Israel’s indiscriminate warfare.”  
 
The report is based on extensive interviews with victims and witnesses of
attacks, visits to some blast sites, and information obtained from
hospitals, humanitarian groups, security forces and government agencies.
Human Rights Watch also conducted research in Israel, assessing the
weapons used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).  
 
Human Rights Watch researchers found numerous cases in which the IDF
launched artillery and air attacks with limited or dubious military
objectives but excessive civilian cost. In many cases, Israeli forces
struck an area with no apparent military target. In some instances,
Israeli forces appear to have deliberately targeted civilians.  
 
In one case, an Israeli air strike on July 13 destroyed the home of a
cleric known to have sympathy for Hezbollah but who was not known to have
taken any active part in the hostilities. Even if the IDF considered him a
legitimate target (and Human Rights Watch has no evidence that he was),
the strike killed him, his wife, their 10 children and the family’s Sri
Lankan maid.  
 
On July 16, an Israeli aircraft fired on a civilian home in the village of
Aitaroun, killing 11 members of the al-Akhrass family, among them seven
Canadian-Lebanese dual nationals who were vacationing in the village when
the war began. Human Rights Watch independently interviewed three
villagers who vigorously denied that the family had any connection to
Hezbollah. Among the victims were children aged one, three, five and
seven.  
 
The Israeli government has blamed Hezbollah for the high civilian casualty
toll in Lebanon, insisting that Hezbollah fighters have hidden themselves
and their weapons among the civilian population. However, in none of the
cases of civilian deaths documented in the report is there evidence to
suggest that Hezbollah was operating in or around the area during or prior
to the attack.  
 
“Hezbollah fighters must not hide behind civilians – that’s an absolute –
but the image that Israel has promoted of such shielding as the cause of
so high a civilian death toll is wrong,” Roth said. “In the many cases of
civilian deaths examined by Human Rights Watch, the location of Hezbollah
troops and arms had nothing to do with the deaths because there was no
Hezbollah around.”  
 
Statements from Israeli government officials and military leaders suggest
that, at the very least, the IDF has blurred the distinction between
civilians and combatants, arguing that only people associated with
Hezbollah remain in southern Lebanon, so all are legitimate targets of
attack. Under international law, however, only civilians directly
participating in hostilities lose their immunity from attack. Many
civilians have been unable to flee because they are sick, wounded, do not
have the means to leave or are providing essential civil services.  
 
Many civilians are afraid to leave the south because the roads are under
Israeli attack. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have fled their homes,
but Israeli forces have fired with warplanes and artillery on dozens of
civilian vehicles, many flying white flags. Israel has justified its
attacks on roads by citing the need to target Hezbollah fighters moving
arms and block their transport routes.  
 
However, none of the evidence gathered by Human Rights Watch or reported
to date by independent media sources indicate that any of the attacks on
vehicles documented in the report resulted in Hezbollah casualties or the
destruction of weapons. Rather, the attacks have killed and wounded
civilians who were fleeing their homes after the IDF issued instructions
to evacuate.  
 
“Israeli warnings of imminent attacks do not turn civilians into military
targets,” said Roth. “Otherwise, Palestinian militant groups might ‘warn’
Israeli settlers to leave their settlements and then feel justified in
attacking those who remained.”  
 
Human Rights Watch urges Israel to immediately end indiscriminate attacks
and distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants. Human
Rights Watch also calls on the United States to immediately suspend
transfers of arms, ammunition, and other materiel credibly alleged to have
been used in violation of international humanitarian law in Lebanon, until
these violations cease. Human Rights Watch further asks the
Secretary-General of the United Nations to establish an International
Commission of Inquiry to investigate reports of such violations, including
possible war crimes, and to formulate recommendations with a view to
holding accountable those who violated the law. That commission should
examine both Israeli attacks in Lebanon and Hezbollah attacks in Israel.  
 
In previous reporting, Human Rights Watch has addressed the conduct of
Hezbollah forces, condemning its attacks on civilian areas as serious
violations of international humanitarian law amounting to war crimes.
Human Rights Watch has called on the governments of Syria and Iran to use
their influence on Hezbollah to promote respect for the laws of war. In
this report, it urges Hezbollah to take all feasible steps to avoid
locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas and to
remove civilian persons and objects under its control from the vicinity of
military objectives.  
-- 
visitate 
http://www.comunisti-italiani.it/frames/index.htm
http://cubainforma.interfree.it/
il film sul 9/11 : 
http://www.loosechange911.com/
http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/Berlin.jpg
questo articolo e` stato inviato via web dal servizio gratuito 
http://www.newsland.it/news
 segnala gli abusi ad 
ab...@newsland.it


#_ Volevi di'...*se*...ne contano meno!?!?
Giano