- Assistance to International War Crimes Tribunal to be
punishable. Israeli Government Coalition Chair proposes new bill. Gush
Shalom activists would face 10 years in prison.
-
- While the Sharon government struggles for survival, another
effort to hit Israeli
- democracy and in particular Gush Shalom:
-
- A bill tabled today at the Knesset (Israeli Parliament)
would criminalize
- any assistance rendered by an Israeli citizen to the
International War Crimes Tribunal
- at the Hague. It was presented by MK Zeev Boim, a senior
member of the ruling Likud
- party and chair of the government coalition. Under the
bill, any assistance by an Israeli
- citizen to the Hague Court would be punishable by up
to ten years' imprisonment.
- The bill includes a detailed list of proscribed acts,
all liable to such a punishment:
- "The provision of any information such as writings,
photographs, documents, opinions
- and reports" as well as "The collection, keeping
and preparation and transfer of
- information" and "The holding of investigations
and the writing down of their results".
- Additionally, any association engaged in any such activities
would be liable to be
- disbanded.
-
- Evidently, the proposed law is primarily directed against
Gush Shalom, the Israeli
- Peace Bloc, which recently cautioned 15 senior IDF officers
that certain actions may
- lead to their indictment in the International Court.
At the time, Prime Minister Sharon
- has demanded that Gush activists be indicted. The Attorney
General, Elyakim
- Rubinstein, started an investigation but - after a wave
of international protests, among
- them leading Jewish voices - the AG found that the Gush
Shalom action did not violate
- any existing law. Thereupon the Minister of Justice,
Me'ir Sheetrit, threatened to
- initiate a new law. The Boim Bill is evidently designed
to fulfil this promise.
-
- Once enacted, however, the new law could find a much
wider application. In fact, any
- act of by human rights organization collecting and disseminating
testimonies of human
- rights violations might be eventually construed as violation
of the new law, on the
- pretext that the reports might find their way to the
Hague Court and used by it as
- evidence. The same may hold for the Settlement Watch
reports periodically issued
- which contain information about a clear violation of
international law, and which are
- widely disseminated throughout the world.
-
- "This bill betrays the memory of six million Holocaust
victims," declared former
- Knesset Member and Gush Shalom activist Uri Avnery. "After
the Holocaust, the
- Jewish people fought with all its strength for the creation
of an International War
- Crimes Court, and now the Sharon Government tries to
destroy it. This is tantamount
- to an admission that they have something to hide."
- "Even the USA, which wants to exclude its soldiers
from the jurisdiction of the Hague
- Court, has not dared to enact such a despicable law,"
commented Adam Keller, the
- Gush Shalom spokesperson. "It would turn Israel
into an international outcast - a
- country which first signed the Rome Treaty, and would
now forbid its own citizens on
- pain of dire punishment from helping the same court.
It would place the best of Israel's
- citizens, the sensitive and conscientious persons who
care about human rights and
- international law, in an impossible dilemma: either be
an accomplice to war crimes or
- face prosecution and imprisonment". Keller called
upon the Labor Party, now at last
- starting to make its way out of the Sharon Government,
to struggle against its
- enactment.
-
- Under Knesset procedures, a private member's bill needs
45 days between being
- tabled and being presented to a vote, which gives some
time for organizing an protest
- campaign. Sometimes during these 45 days, the Boim Bill
should come up on the
- agenda of the Cabinet Legislative Committee, which should
decide whether or not the
- government would back it.
-
- For more information:
- Adam Keller +972-3-5565804 / +972-56-709603
- N.B.
- Protests should be addressed to
- Justice Minister Sheetrit <<mailto:sar@justice.gov.il>sar@justice.gov.il>
- and/or to the fax number: + 972 (0)2 6285438;
- and to
- The Foreign Minister <<mailto:sar@mofa.gov.il>sar@mofa.gov.il>
- and/or to the fax number (+972-2) 5303506 / 5303896 /
5303367
-
- (As things look now, within a few days the Foreign Affairs
portfolio might be held by
- somebody else than Mr. Shimon Peres; but whoever the
minister, Foreign Ministry
- officials can be expected to be concerned for Israel's
image in the world and therefore
- vulnerable to protests from abroad.)
- You can use the following text, or of course make your
own.
-
- Dear Minister
-
- I am deeply concerned about the bill presented at the
Knesset by KM Ze'ev Boim,
- which would make for Israeli citizens the collection
of evidence of war crimes
- punishable as "assistance to the International War
Crimes Tribunal at the Hague", nd
- which could lead to up to ten years of imprisonment.
-
- The enactment of such a law would violate both democratic
norms inside Israel and
- Israel's adherence to the international community and
the institutions established by
- the community to maintain International Law. I call upon
you to take all measures in
- your power to prevent such a bill from being enacted
and becoming a shameful blot on
- Israel's law books.
-
- ---
- Transcript of the war crimes panel available on the
Gush site
- For Hebrew http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum.html
- For English http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum_eng.html
- French available at request
-
- At request, a selection of documents is also available
in Spanish
-
- Also on the site:
- photo's - of action or otherwise informative
- the weekly Gush Shalom ad - in Hebrew and English
- the columns of Uri Avnery - in Hebrew, Arab and English
- (and a lot more)
- http://www.gush-shalom.org
-
- In order to receive our Hebrew-language press releases
[mostly WORD documents -
- not always same as English]
- mailto:gush-shalom-heb-request@mailman.gush-shalom.org
- + NB: write the word "subscribe" in the subject
line.
-
- In order to receive weekly a selection of English-language
articles, reports and
- announcements collected by Adam Keller and Beate Zilversmidt
send one blank mail
- to: <mailto:TOI_Billboard-subscribe@topica.com>TOI_Billboard-subscribe@topica.com
-
- If you want to support Gush Shalom's activities you can
send a cheque or
- cash, wrapped well in an extra piece of paper, to:
- Gush Shalom pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033
- or ask us for charities in your country which receive
donations
- on behalf of Gush Shalom
-
- http://www.gush-shalom.org/
-
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