Hamas committed hundreds of war crimes on Oct 7th - Human Rights Watch, Hamas furious

 

Hamas is always furious when the truth comes out

Hamas committed 'hundreds' of war crimes

on October 7, HRW says

Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups it coordinated committed hundreds of war crimes in the October 7 attack on southern Israel, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) NGO said in a new report released on Wednesday. Hamas rejected the findings, calling on the US-based rights group to withdraw the report and apologise. 

Issued on: 17/07/2024 - 14:31Modified: 17/07/2024 - 14:34

3 min

By:NEWS WIRES

Hamas led other Palestinian armed groups in committing hundreds of war crimes in the surprise October 7 attack on Israel that set off the Gaza war, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Wednesday.

Hamas reacted with fury to one of the most in-depth international studies on the unprecedented incursion into southern Israel, demanding that HRW withdraw the report and "apologise".

The report set out a host of crimes under international law that it says Hamas and its allies breached.

"It's impossible for us to put a number on the specific instances," HRW associate director Belkis Wille told a news conference, adding that "there were obviously hundreds on that day".

The crimes include "deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects; wilful killing of persons in custody; cruel and other inhumane treatment; sexual and gender-based violence; hostage taking; mutilation and despoiling (robbing) of bodies; use of human shields; and pillage and looting", said the report.

The report focuses on violations of international humanitarian law, rules mostly rooted in the Geneva Conventions for conduct in war.

Although Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is recognised as the orchestrator of the attack, the report lists other armed groups that committed war crimes on October 7, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

"The reality is that it really wasn't civilians from Gaza who perpetrated the worst abuses," said Wille.

"That was a claim made very early on by Hamas to distance itself from the events, and by Israel to justify its retaliation operation."

'Incredibly organised' campaign

Wille pointed to the "incredibly organised and coordinated nature" of the assault on cities, kibbutz communities, and military bases around Gaza.

"Across many attack sites, fighters fired directly at civilians, often at close range, as they tried to flee, and at people who happened to be driving vehicles in the area," said the report.

"They hurled grenades and shot into safe rooms and other shelters and fired rocket-propelled grenades at homes.

"They set some houses on fire, burning and suffocating people to death, and forcing out others who they then captured or killed."

HRW said it "found evidence of acts of sexual and gender-based violence by fighters including forced nudity, and the posting without consent of sexualised images on social media."

The report quoted a team of the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict who said they interviewed people who had reported witnessing "rape and gang rape, in at least three locations".

But it said the full extent of sexual and gender-based violence "will likely never be fully known" as victims had died, or stigma would stop them talking out, or Israeli first responders "largely" did not collect relevant evidence.

Hamas angrily rejected the report.

Hamas' fury is a result of their prolific lying over the past 9 months, and suddenly, HRW reveals the truth. Hamas' pretension of being a resistance movement is now seen as another of their relentless lies. Now they will attack HRW as a lying arm of the Zionists when HRW has already condemned Israel for its response.

"We reject the lies and blatant bias towards the occupation and the lack of professionalism and credibility in the Human Rights Watch report. We demand its withdrawal and an apology," said a statement released by the Palestinian militants, considered a "terrorist" group by the United States, European Union and others.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 42 the military says are dead.

Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed at least 38,664 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Gaza health ministry.

Remember, the Health Ministry is a ministry of Hamas, and Hamas always lies and exaggerates. I would be surprised if the real number is one-tenth of that. If not, where are the bodies, where are the graves? You can't hide nearly 40,000 bodies.

The report only covered the events of October 7, not the subsequent war. Hamas said it should have taken account of Israel's response. HRW is still looking into the conflict in Gaza.

The International Criminal Court chief prosecutor has asked court judges to issue arrest warrants against Hamas leaders including its political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The prosecutor has also sought warrants against Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, on charges ranging from "starvation of civilians" to "extermination and/or murder" as crimes against humanity.

(AFP)

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HRW Urges Brunei to Repeal Sharia Law

The Wonderful World of Islam

By Darryl Coote

Human Rights Watch is urging Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei to not only repeal his country's newly enacted Sharia law penal code but to ratify international human rights accords it has already signed. Photo by Drew Angerer/UPI/Drew Angerer | License Photo

(UPI) -- An international human rights organization called on the sultan of Brunei to repeal his country's newly enacted Sharia penal code as it violates a range of internationally recognized human rights.

Enacted April 3, the Syariah Penal Code imposes death by stoning for extramarital and anal sex, limb amputation for theft and 40 whip lashes for lesbian sex, among other restrictions critics say target women and sexual and gender minorities.

"The provisions contained in the penal code pave the way for multiple violations of human rights, including the right to life, freedom from torture and other ill-treatment, freedom of expression, privacy and religion," four directors of Human Rights Watch said in a letter dated Wednesday to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who is also the prime minister of Brunei.

A detailed report of the new penal code attached to the letter states that the code violates Brunei's obligations to international human rights conventions the country has signed, including the Convention on Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as well as others it has signed but not yet ratified.

Again I mention that Islam tends toward radicalism and Sharia. This is another example.

"As a member state of the United Nations, Brunei has pledged to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose provisions are considered reflective of customary international law," the report said.

Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said the new penal code is a "multifaceted assault on fundamental human rights."

"The sultan holds absolute power in Brunei, so responsibility for this abhorrent penal code falls squarely on his shoulders," Robertson said in a statement. "Brunei's repeated commitments to respect human rights amount to little so long as the Syariah Penal Code is in force."

The rollout of the new penal code was met with opposition from both celebrities, such as actor George Clooney and comedian Ellen DeGeneres who encouraged boycotts of Brunei-linked hotel brands, and countries such as the United States, Britain, France and Germany who protested the country's use of Sharia law.

Sharia law is full of Allah's mercy and blessings

In response, the sultan on May 5 said there are many "misperceptions" about the code that may cause "apprehension." He said despite the implementation of the penal code, Brunei will continue to uphold its de facto moratorium on the death penalty.

"There should not be any concern on the Sharia law as it is full of Allah's mercy and blessings," he said.

Islam must have a radically different interpretation of the meaning of 'mercy' and 'blessings'! 

However, Human Rights Watch rejected this explanation Wednesday, stating the moratorium "is subject to political whim and could be lifted at any time, while leaving in place dozens of other rights-offending provisions." The death penalty is also only one of many issues with the penal code, the directors said in their letter.

Human Rights Watch then urged the sultan to immediately repeal the penal code, ensure the new one is aligned with international human rights law and ratify conventions and treaties Brunei has previously signed.

"The sultan should revoke this law and fulfil his promise to respect human rights," Robertson said.

Saudi Woman Barricades Herself in Thai Hotel Fearing Relatives Will Kill Her at Home

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun © rahaf84427714 / Twitter

A young Saudi woman has barricaded herself into a hotel in Thailand, saying that she has fled from abusive relatives and will be killed if sent back home. Her claims have caught the attention of human rights campaigners.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, a Saudi national, says she intended to seek asylum in Australia but a representative from the Saudi Embassy seized her passport in Bangkok airport on Sunday.

She has barricaded herself in a hotel room in the airport’s transit zone out of fear that she will be deported to her home country. Thai immigration officials initially indicated that the woman would be sent back on Monday, but later clarified that she wouldn’t be deported immediately, citing safety reasons.

“If deporting her would result in her death, we definitely wouldn’t want to do that,” immigration chief Surachet Hakparn noted.

Al-Qunun’s lawyers, meanwhile, said that an injunction calling for deportation procedures to be blocked was rejected in court. The legal team is planning to appeal the decision.

In a video shared on social media, al-Qunun said that she will not leave the room until she has a meeting with UN officials.

The woman told human rights campaigners she had escaped from physical and psychological abuse that she suffers at the hands of her relatives. She managed to flee during her family’s visit to Kuwait, which, unlike Saudi Arabia, doesn’t require a male relative’s approval for a woman to leave the country. Al-Qunun now fears that she will be jailed upon returning home or even killed.

“My family is strict and locked me in a room for six months just for cutting my hair,” al-Qunun told AFP.

“I'm sure 100 percent they will kill me as soon as I get out of the Saudi jail.”

Human Rights Watch appealed to Bangkok to halt the woman’s planned deportation. The organization’s Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson blasted the Thai authorities for their “heartless lack of concern” for al-Qunun’s wellbeing.

The woman’s pleas also caught the attention of Georg Schmidt, the German ambassador to the nation. He wrote that he would stay “in touch” with local officials concerning al-Qunun’s fate.

Iran Admits: Regime Working With Soros Organization

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif says government working 'closely' with George Soros' Open Society Foundations

Gary Willig, Arutz Sheva

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif said Sunday that the Iranian government has worked closely with billionaire George Soros' Open Society Foundations (OSF) organization.

Zarif made the remarks in response to questions raised in the Iranian parliament. According to Zarif, the activity began before he entered his current position, and he boasted that he had succeeded in "keeping the activity organized."

OSF has funded a number of far-left organizations in Israel which seek to change the policy of Israel's government.

According to NGO Monitor, among the top beneficiaries of OSF funding is Human Rights Watch, which has been criticized for targeting, and falsely libeling, the state of Israel. Another is J Street, which describes itself as “pro-Israel” but has been termed anti-Israelby others for, among other things, welcoming proponents of a boycott on Israel at its national conference and honoring IDF soldiers who refused orders.

Another recipient of OSF funding is the Institute for Middle East Understanding, which, NGO-Monitor reports, is headed by staff who have accused Israel of war crimes and have termed Israel an “apartheid state.

The extreme-left Israeli group B’Tselem also receives OSF funds. B’Tselem is notorious for publishing one-sided reports, and for inflating Arab civilian casualty figures. For example, the group included hundreds of Hamas policemen in Gaza as “non-combatants,” and counted Sheikh Ahmed Yassin – then the leader of Hamas – as not a definite combatant.

B’Tselem has listed OSF as a source of support, but OSF has not listed B’Tselem as a recipient, indicating that the grant may have come through an overseas entity.

A leaked OSF document said that OSF’s strategy with respect to Israel is to "focus on raising the cost of the occupation and ending it on the one hand, and on human rights advocacy and protection on the other."

About 400 Now Dead During Muslim Crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State

By Sam Howard

Displaced Rohingya people arrive at a monastery in Rakhine state on Aug. 31. The Myanmar military has said about 400 people have died during a military crackdown in the state over the last week. Photo EPA-EFE/Nyunt Win

UPI -- The death toll of a violent security operation in Myanmar's Rakhine state continues to rise.

Voice of America reported that the Myanmar military says about 400 people have now died within the last week, amid a security crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority population, who have long been denied citizenship in the largely Buddhist nation.

The military's actions have drawn the ire of the United Nations and international advocacy group Human Rights Watch.

Of the 399 deaths over the last week, the Myanmar military said 370 were terrorists. The government has said those terrorists instigated the recent violence, specifically torching nearly 2,500 homes, but refugees claim Myanmar's military started the attack and burned down the homes, CNN reported.

Despite a government attempt to tighten the Myanmar border, the U.N. estimated 50,000 Rohingya people have fled the violence -- most of them into neighboring Bangladesh or a boundary area between the two countries.

Twenty bodies of Rohingya Muslims, including 12 children, were recovered from a river along the border on Thursday, CNN reported.

Wikipedia:

The Rohingya people are a stateless Indo-Aryan people from Rakhine State, Myanmar, which they claim to be their homeland for generations. There are an estimated 1 million Rohingyas living in Myanmar. The majority of them are Muslim and a minority are Hindu. 

Described as "one of the most persecuted minorities in the world", most of the Rohingya population are denied citizenship under the 1982 Burmese citizenship law, which restricts full citizenship to British Indian migrants who settled after 1823. The Rohingyas are also restricted from freedom of movement, state education and civil service jobs in Myanmar. 

Despite promises of equality by Myanmar's independence leader Aung San, the Rohingyas have faced military crackdowns in 1978, 1991–1992, 2012, 2015 and 2016–2017. 

UN officials have described Myanmar's persecution of the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing, while there have been warnings of an unfolding genocide. Yanghee Lee, the UN special investigator on Myanmar, believes the country wants to expel its entire Rohingya population.

Rakhine State, Myanmar

ISIS Targets Civilians in Mosul; Iraqi, Coalition Forces also Cause Civilian Deaths – HRW

Of Course, if these were Syrian forces backed by Russians, mainstream media would be screaming apocalyptic words. But these are Iraqi forces with American help, so all is quiet. 

Removing insurgents from among the midst of civilians is extremely difficult. Using bombs is quick but with high collateral damage. The only other way is to invade with a huge army going house to house. This would take more time and would probably still result in civilians getting shot by mistake, or, 'just in case'.

Either way, in American media, American actions will be justified and Russian actions will be vilified even if considerably more effective.

© Dabiq / Global Look Press via ZUMA Press

Islamic State has “indiscriminately’ attacked people who refused to retreat from the Iraqi city of Mosul alongside jihadists, Human Rights Watch said, adding that Iraqi and US-led coalition forces were responsible for civilian deaths.

Islamic State militants used mortar rounds and explosives against the population in eastern Mosul and deliberately shot at fleeing residents, HRW said on Wednesday. 

The terrorists were “indiscriminately or deliberately killing and wounding people for refusing to be human shields,” Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said cited in a statement published on its website.

Jihadists warned people by radio and via mosque loudspeakers that those who refused to retreat with them were “unbelievers” and therefore Islamic State enemies, in the same category as Iraqi and coalition forces. 

The witnesses, who managed to flee Mosul, told HRW of at least 18 deadly militant attacks on civilians in late November and early December. 

Those who escaped to areas controlled by Iraqi forces were threatened by IS sniper fire, car bombs and improvised explosive devices.

According to HRW, Iraqi troops and the US-led coalition were also to blame for deaths among civilians. 

Iraqi forces positioned soldiers in homes or on rooftops in densely populated areas, which were then struck by IS mortars. 

Witnesses also spoke of at least three instances in which “Iraqi or coalition airstrikes” targeted IS fighters located in residential areas, resulting in civilian casualties. 

Neither IS nor Iraqi forces gave residents a say in the matter when they placed troops inside their homes, they added. 

Nineteen people were killed and dozens wounded in such attacks from both warring sides, HRW said, adding that the numbers represent only “a fraction of the total” death toll. 

“Directly targeting civilians or using them as human shields is a war crime,” the human rights group stressed.  

“The presence of ISIS fighters among civilians does not absolve anti-ISIS forces from the obligation to target only military objectives,” it added.

Iraqi forces, backed by the US-led coalition, launched a large-scale offensive on Islamic State’s main Iraqi stronghold of Mosul in mid-October. 

Since the start of the operation, they managed to push jihadists out of several neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city. 

According to Oxfam, some 100,000 people have managed to flee the violence in Mosul, yet approximately 10 times more are still in the city and face a “dire humanitarian situation.”

HRW, Amnesty Call on UN to Suspend Saudi Arabia from Human Rights Council

People inspect damage at a house after it was destroyed by a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen's capital Sanaa. © Mohamed al-Sayaghi / Reuters

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called on the United Nations General Assembly to “immediately suspend” Saudi Arabia from the UN Human Rights Council because of numerous serious human rights violations.

“Saudi Arabia has committed gross and systematic violations of human rights during its time as a Council member, and it has used its position on the Council to shield itself from accountability for its violations in Yemen,” the two human rights watchdogs wrote in a joint letter to the UN on Wednesday.

They were referring to the actions of the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni conflict that resulted in numerous casualties among civilians.

The two organizations said they documented “69 unlawful airstrikes by the coalition, some of which may amount to war crimes,” that took lives of at least 913 civilians and hit homes, markets, hospitals, schools, civilian businesses, and mosques.

The human rights NGOs also stressed that the Saudi-led coalition used internationally banned cluster munitions in 19 strikes, some of which also targeted civilian areas.

The organizations urged the UN General Assembly to suspend Saudi Arabia from the Human Rights Council until it ends its “unlawful attacks” and conducts credible investigation into all cases of alleged human rights violations or agrees to cooperate with an independent and impartial international inquiry.

“Saudi Arabia has amassed an appalling record of violations in Yemen while a Human Rights Council member, and has damaged the body’s credibility by its bullying tactics to avoid accountability,” Philippe Bolopion, deputy director for global advocacy at Human Rights Watch, said.

His words were echoed by Richard Bennett, Head of Amnesty International’s UN Office, who said that “the credibility of the UN Human Rights Council is at stake, as “to allow [Saudi Arabia] to remain an active member of the Council, where it has used this position to shield itself from accountability for possible war crimes, smacks of deep hypocrisy.”

“It would bring the world’s top human rights body into disrepute,” he added.

Bennett also accused Saudis of using their membership of the Council “to derail a resolution to establish an international investigation, by garnering support for their rival, toothless resolution backing a national Yemeni inquiry,” which failed to investigate allegations of the coalition’s alleged war crimes.

The organizations also blasted other countries that continue to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia despite its poor human rights record.

“What’s particularly shocking is the deafening silence of the international community which has time and again ceded to pressure from Saudi Arabia and put business, arms and trade deals before human rights despite the Kingdom’s record of committing gross and systematic violations with complete impunity,” said Richard Bennett.

Earlier in 2016, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International already called on the United States, United Kingdom, and France to suspend all weapons sales to Saudi Arabia until it stops its unlawful airstrikes in Yemen.

The two NGOs also harshly criticized the Saudi Arabia’s internal policy, involving “crackdown on all forms of dissent” as well as “use of grossly unfair trials at a special counter-terror court and long prison terms for peaceful dissidents and human rights defenders.”

“Saudi Arabia must release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally, and end its shameful reliance on the death penalty,” Bennett said.

The Saudi-led coalition launched its aerial campaign in Yemen in March, 2015, after the “Ansar Allah” Houthi movement captured huge territories in Yemen including the capital of Sana’a and the country’s second largest city, Aden.

The conflict has left nearly 4,300 dead since March, half of them civilians, according to UN figures. Since that time, the coalition has been repeatedly accused of numerous and grave human rights violations. The most high profile incidents involving Saudi coalition airstrikes include bombing a wedding party in September 2015 that claimed lives of 135 civilians; hitting a Yemeni hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) a month later and bombing a market in north-western Yemen in March 2016, where more than a hundred people died.

At the press briefing on Wednesday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner tried to deflect the questions about Saudi Arabia.

“Because we only have observer status on the Human Rights Council, and we don’t have a vote, I’ll refer you to the UN for more details,” Toner told reporters. His comments were met by protests that the US was a major financial backer of the HRC, that Washington supervised the election of the members, and that Saudi Arabia was a major US ally and partner.

“We’ve been very clear about our involvement in Yemen – our support for the GCC, led by the Saudis, in combating the threat that it faced on its borders from the Houthis,” Toner said. “With respect to this movement with regard to their position on the Human Rights Council, we’re not going to comment on it. Just not.”

On June 3, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon slammed the Saudi-led coalition for “killing and maiming” children in Yemen, and added it to an annual blacklist of countries and armed groups that have violated children's rights in conflict.

According to the report presented by Ban Ki-moon, the coalition was responsible for 60 percent of child deaths and injuries in Yemen last year, killing 510 people and wounding 667 others. The coalition was also behind half of the attacks carried out on schools and hospitals in Yemen.

In March, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said that the coalition was responsible for twice as many civilian casualties as all other forces put together.

Saudi Arabia repeatedly dismissed all accusations and even forced the UN to remove it from the blacklist of child-killers in Yemen just days after it was added to this list. Later, Ban Ki-moon admitted that his decision to remove the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen from the UN blacklist came after threats from a number of countries.

It came after a diplomatic source told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the UN was faced with “bullying, threats [and] pressure” from Riyadh, adding that it was “real blackmail.”

This incident also caused the outrage of the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. “Allowing Saudi Arabia to obstruct independent scrutiny and avoid accountability threatens the credibility of both the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly,” the two organizations wrote in the joint letter to the UN.

Saudi Arabia joined the Human Rights Council in January 2014 and is now in its final year of a three-year term on the 47-member Human Rights Council.

A two-third majority vote by the UN General Assembly can suspend a country from the Human Rights Council for continuously committing grave and systematic violations of human rights during its membership, according to the General Assembly Resolution 60/251, which created the Human Rights Council.