I.P.O. Information Service
Free Gaza flotilla:
International Progress Organization calls
for investigation of reports of cold-blooded murder on board the Turkish
ship Mavi Marmara;
calls upon Israel and Egypt to immediately and permanently lift
the illegal siege on Gaza;
urges Arab governments to follow humanitarian example set by the
Republic of Turkey
Vienna, 3 June 2010
P/RE/22264c-is
In
a statement issued today, Dr. Hans Köchler, President of the
International Progress Organization (I.P.O.), an international NGO in
consultative status with the United Nations, called for an urgent
investigation into reports of cold-blooded murder on board the Turkish
ship Mavi Marmara in international waters, while it was on a
sail with humanitarian cargo to be unloaded at the port of Gaza.
Credible eyewitness reports from passengers of the Turkish ship and
initial reports from Turkish forensic
experts
indicate that several passengers, including a journalist,
were shot at close range.
An investigation will also
urgently
have to reconcile the discrepancy between the number, reported by the
flotilla organizers, of wounded who were handed over to the Israelis for
treatment (38), and the number of wounded given by the Israeli
authorities (21). The numerous eyewitness reports of mistreatment of
passengers in Israeli detention will also have to be investigated.
Commission with adequate authority
While welcoming the initiative of the United Nations Human Rights
Council, the President of the I.P.O. said that an international
commission of inquiry should be set up by the United Nations Security
Council on the basis of a Chapter VII resolution. Only such a procedure,
for which there are precedents, would give the commission the necessary
authority and independence vis-à-vis all states involved. The
“international standards” which the Security Council’s “Presidential
Statement” of 1 June 2010 is referring to in its “call” for a “prompt,
impartial, credible and transparent investigation,” can only be met if
the Council follows up on its declaration and uses its coercive powers
to establish a commission of inquiry.
Legal issues
As
regards the legal issues in the ongoing controversy over the use of
force against the
Free
Gaza flotilla, the
President of the I.P.O. stated that the State of Israel has no legal
right to prevent ships with humanitarian cargo from reaching the port of
Gaza. As de facto occupying power in Gaza, Israel is under an
obligation to strictly observe the provisions of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War
of 12 August 1949 (Fourth Geneva Convention).
The blockade imposed on Gaza since June 2007 by Israel, together with
Egypt, has caused enormous suffering among the civilian population and
is an act of collective punishment. As such, it constitutes a blatant
violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and in particular its
Article 33. Apart from the attack on the Gaza flotilla having occurred
in international waters – far from the territorial waters of the
occupied Gaza strip and
still outside the
unilaterally declared Israeli “exclusion” zone –, there exists no legal
justification for the enforcement of an illegal embargo.
State responsibility
On
the basis of the principle of state responsibility, the State of Israel
and the Arab Republic of Egypt are jointly responsible for the human
suffering caused by the siege imposed on the people of Gaza, a tragedy
that is documented in numerous reports of
international
humanitarian
organizations,
including United Nations agencies such as UNRWA.
Those states are liable to compensate the innocent people of Gaza for
the damages caused by the embargo. While welcoming the (partial) opening
of the Rafah border crossing by Egypt – a decision made only after
the tragedy on board Mavi Marmara and because of public opinion
in the Arab and wider Muslim world –, the President of the I.P.O. called
upon the Egyptian government to unconditionally lift the blockade and
follow the example of the government of the Republic
of Turkey
in its
just and steadfast support to the people of Gaza. Innocent civilians
must never be made hostage to political disputes, the President of the
I.P.O. concluded.
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Statement by the President of the Security Council, 1 June 2010
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"Activists ‘missing’ after raid" – The Straits Times, Singapore, 3 June 2010
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"Starvation of civilians is a crime" – Declaration of the International Progress Organization, 2 June 2006
International Progress Organization
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