Haaretz reported today that the Amnesty International 2012 Annual Report for 2011 was released on Wednesday, and detailed violations of human rights worldwide. Among other things, the report is highly critical of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, charging that the Israel Defense Forces frequently use excessive, sometimes lethal, force against demonstrators. In 2011, the IDF killed 55 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, including 11 children, the report said.
The report charges that Israeli authorities are prolonging the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip with the continued implementation of the blockade.
The report also criticizes Israel for restricting the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank.
The construction of the security barrier is also mentioned as a source of grievance as it is mostly constructed on Palestinian land and in many cases serves to annex land to settlements in breach of international law.
The report states that Israel has engaged in the demolition of Palestinian homes and other facilities in the West Bank, as well inside Israel itself, where homes of Palestinian citizens are destroyed in ‘unrecognized” villages in the Negev desert.
According to the report Israel often fails to bring those that attack Palestinians to justice. Amnesty says three Palestinians were killed by settlers during the past year.
The report goes on to criticize Israel’s policy on the imprisonment of Palestinians. Israel held more than 4,200 Palestinian prisoners at the end of 2011 with more than 307 being administrative detainees held without charge or trial; others received prison terms following military trials. The report cites reports of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees.
Elsewhere in the world, the report, which surveyed the state of human rights in 155 countries, said there was a ‘compelling case’ for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigations of crimes against humanity.
Amnesty International also lambasted the United Nations Security Council in the Report as ‘tired, out of step and increasingly unfit for purpose’. Amnesty said the failure of world powers to take stronger action on Syria was evidence that a sclerotic security council was hamstrung by vested interests.
The same could perhaps be said of the UN SC’s lack of action on Israel (added by editor).
