January 10, 2009	Saturday	Muharram 12, 1430

GENEVA, Jan 9: The UN human rights chief opened a special session of the Human Rights Council on Friday with a warning that violations in the Gaza Strip were severe and that some reported incidents may warrant prosecutions for war crimes.

“The vicious cycle of provocation and retribution must be brought to an end,” Navi Pillay told the council, which was holding a special session on human rights violations in the Palestinian territory.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights also called for an independent investigation into the violence.

Cuba, Egypt and Pakistan were preparing a resolution seeking the 47-member state council’s condemnation of the Israeli offensive and of the “grave human rights situation” in Gaza.

Pillay underlined that Israel and Palestinian militants had an obligation under international humanitarian law to care for the wounded, and to protect ambulances, hospitals, health workers, schools, civilians and their homes. The High Commissioner underscored calls for a ceasefire as the session began, warning that rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on Israel and “retaliatory” air strikes by Israel forces were “unacceptable”. “The situation is intolerable,” she told the council, warning that the overall conditions for civilians “constitute egregious violations of human rights”. But Pillay went further, enumerating more evidence of violations of international humanitarian law from the UN agencies and the ICRC after civilians and relief workers were killed or wounded during Israeli attacks.

“Accountability must be ensured for violations of international law,” she said, calling for “credible, independent and transparent investigations” as a first step.

“I remind this council that violations of international humanitarian law may constitute war crimes for which individual criminal responsibility may be invoked,” she added.

A revised proposal for the draft resolution called for “the immediate cessation of Israeli military attacks” as well as an “end to the launching of crude rockets against Israeli civilians.”

The special session of the Human Rights Council comes amid mounting concern about the growing civilian toll following Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip that have also hit homes and schools.

“Israel has done its utmost to minimise harm to the civilian population, often at the cost of operational advantage,” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, told the Human Rights Council.—AFP