Incredibly, and perhaps not so incredibly considering the constant stream of images of destroyed Lebanese buildings and dead and injured people, the ICJ has announced that Israel may be committing war crimes through their aerial attacks in this war. They have added that Hizbullah might be as well.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), which links 60 senior judges and lawyers worldwide, said Israel’s “disproportionate and indiscriminate” use of force through air raids against Lebanese civilian targets amounted to “collective punishment”, which is outlawed.
“Collective punishments constitute a war crime under international law,” ICJ Deputy Secretary-General Federico Andreu-Guzman said in a statement.
Hizbullah rockets fired at northern Israeli towns could also be considered a violation of international humanitarian law because armed groups are also covered by the Geneva Conventions protecting civilians in times of conflict, the ICJ added.
Needless to say, Israel will be held responsible long after Russia, China and England will be systematically charged with war crimes for their disproportionate and indiscriminate actions in Chechnya, Tibet and Iraq, respectively. Oh wait…
Sounds like a good way for 60-member organization to get a lot of press….
Thank you for every other informative blog.