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Last update - 14:56 27/10/2009
Human Rights Watch applies same standards to Israel, Hamas
By Kenneth Roth
Tags: Israel news 

Critics of Human Rights Watch's work on Israel raise three main points. First, they say we disproportionately focus on Israel, and neglect other countries in the Middle East. Second, they claim our research methodology is flawed - relying on witnesses with an agenda. Third, as recently expressed by our founding chairman Robert Bernstein, they argue that we should focus on "closed" countries such as China rather than "open" societies like Israel.

I reject all three claims.

Human Rights Watch currently works on seventeen countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Iran, Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia. Israel accounts for about 15 percent of our published output on the region. The Middle East and North Africa division is one of 16 research programs at Human Rights Watch and receives 5 percent of our total budget. Israel is a small fraction of what we do.
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Our war coverage in the region has documented violations by all sides. No international human rights organization has done more to highlight the war crimes of Hezbollah and Hamas, challenging their leaders and the Arab public to think critically about the unlawful conduct of these groups. Our Civilian Protection Initiative, launched five years ago, has sought the support of Arab civil society leaders to discredit terrorist attacks.

The research methodology employed in these wars is the same we use around the world: in-depth private interviews with multiple witnesses. We corroborate their accounts with field visits, ballistics evidence, medical records and other means. Unfortunately, since late 2008, the Israel Defense Forces have refused to meet with us or answer any of our detailed written questions.

The problem of witness intimidation is not new, and we take it into account.

Contrary to the claims of some critics, in Gaza we found there were Palestinians who would speak about violations by Hamas. Palestinian victims and witnesses of abuse were the primary source for a report we published on Hamas torture and executions - a report cited publicly by the Israeli government.

We apply the same international human rights standards to all countries, open and closed. We work extensively on China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran, but we also investigate abuses in the American criminal justice system, police killings in India, "disappearances" in Sri Lanka, and migrants' rights in Europe. All governments, regardless of their political system, are obliged to uphold the same international norms.

At the heart of our critics' arguments lies the view that we should hold Israel to lower standards. There is no dispute that the country was founded on the ashes of genocide and is surrounded by hostile states and armed groups. But some believe that these circumstances give Israel's democratic government the right to take whatever steps it deems necessary to keep the country safe.

A country's conditions do not remove its obligations under international law, though. Whether a state is an aggressor or acting in self-defense, whether it faces a regular army or insurgents that commit abuses, the laws of war apply, imposing a duty to minimize civilian harm.

And being a democratic country prevents Israel from committing wartime abuses no more than it stopped the United States from torture and unlawful detentions at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.

The serious Israeli abuses we documented also put the country at greater risk. By failing to hold those responsible to account, Israel increases anger and resentment among the Palestinian population and in the wider Arab world, and undercuts moderates who wish to pursue peace.

Our critics have every right to challenge the substance of our findings on Israel or any other country, though they rarely find errors. But if they want to challenge repressive regimes and combat armed groups that terrorize civilians, they will not serve that cause by trying to exempt Israel from human rights laws that are the best defense against such abuse. Nor does it help to attack those organizations that are working to uphold those laws around the world.

The writer is executive director of Human Rights Watch.

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      1.   Why is Kenneth Roth identified as a "Haaretz Correspondent" 03:49  |  Sam 27/10/09
      2.   Ken Roth is deliberately distorting the picture 03:59  |  Jon 27/10/09
      3.   Why Does HRW Hire Anti-Israel Activists 04:10  |  David Bernstein 27/10/09
      4.   Is this a fifteen min commercial? 04:45  |  Mike 27/10/09
      5.   Human Rights Watch biggest crime. 05:09  |  Ryan 27/10/09
      6.   Human Rights Watch Standards 05:11  |  Michael Wiener 27/10/09
      7.   Well put. 05:11  |  peacelover 27/10/09
      8.   To the Executive Director 06:13  |  gypsedrifter 27/10/09
      9.   "To minimize civilian harm" 06:25  |  Jon 27/10/09
      10.   Kenneth Roth Indisproportionate focus on Israel is because IDF 06:53  |  Joseph .E 27/10/09
      11.   Who cares if you reject the claims. Enough of your lies 06:58  |  McQueen 27/10/09
      12.   Your very own numbers contradict your claims of impartiality 07:03  |  me 27/10/09
      13.   HRW 07:04  |  Stan 27/10/09
      14.   Denial is not just a river 07:24  |  Chaim Ben Kahan 27/10/09
      15.   "taking all feasible precautions" 07:53  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 27/10/09
      16.   Israel`s game of diversion... 08:02  |  AntiSettler 27/10/09
      17.   Human Rights Watch: We apply same standards to Israel, Hamas 08:03  |  Robert 27/10/09
      18.   HRW stands for H a m a s Rights Watch 09:05  |  LOL 27/10/09
      19.   HRW stands for Hezbollah Rights Watch 09:06  |  LOL(1) 27/10/09
      20.   Name ONE country you focus on more than Israel? 09:26  |  fo realz 27/10/09
      21.   same rights... BullSh*t 09:32  |  j 27/10/09
      22.   Rubbish. we have been watching those standards for years. 09:37  |  JO 27/10/09
      23.   Human Rights of Soldiers 10:31  |  Yitz 27/10/09
      24.   HRW; Too Little Too Late 11:00  |  Joe Context Justice 27/10/09
      25.   Israeli leadership bears responsibility for war crimes 11:01  |  Roo 27/10/09
      26.   To fo realz/ "Name one country..." 11:04  |  Anne 27/10/09
      27.   Same rights? 11:09  |  Anne 27/10/09
      28.   HRW`s twisted logic 11:33  |  Sammy 27/10/09
      29.   What nonsense! Here is what Bernstein said. 11:40  |  PETER SM 27/10/09
      30.   kenneth roth an idiot who does not appply the why factor? 11:53  |  vhardman 27/10/09
      31.   more twisted HRW logic 12:02  |  Sammy 27/10/09
      32.   lets have hrw reports on chechyna bosnia sudan 12:03  |  vhardman 27/10/09
      33.   jon 2 12:33  |  potobac 27/10/09
      34.   HRW shenanigans 12:35  |  Sammy 27/10/09
      35.   Roth is lying 12:38  |  Zvi 27/10/09
      36.   to Ann, "What about Iraq" 12:50  |  fo realz 27/10/09
      37.   Human `rights` watch? What about rights of GILAD SHALIT 13:16  |  Lily 27/10/09
      38.   GILAD SHALIT? Sorry, he doesn`t count 13:50  |  Sammy 27/10/09
      39.   Look at your own statistics Mr Roth 14:00  |  Orly 27/10/09
      40.   HRW Avoiding the obvious.The accusation by founder Bernstein 14:02  |  PETER SM 27/10/09
      41.   ROO Goldstone speaks out of both sides of his mouth 14:15  |  PETER SM 27/10/09
      42.   15%? And what percentage of ME population does Israel make up? 14:46  |  Jon 27/10/09
      43.   Roth is Right! Israel burries itself under Gaza destroyed homes 15:41  |  Universal Law Apply 27/10/09
      44.   Hasbara-pirouettes won`t replace The Law or Int`l Investigations! 16:23  |  War-if-No Peace 27/10/09
      45.   CAST LEAD was NOT "Self-Defence". It was Deliberate Aggression-#3 16:46  |  Gideon Gitai 27/10/09
      46.   why is this news 19:39  |  fred shaprio 27/10/09
      47.   Hurray for HRW!!! 20:45  |  Jaap 27/10/09
      48.   RE Potobac 21:53  |  Jon 27/10/09
      49.   Kenneth Roth full of it. 22:06  |  Catarin 27/10/09
      50.   Jon - What difference would it make to Israel`s behaviour? 23:37  |  CJ 27/10/09
      51.   CANT wait for HRW to hire known pro Israel activists to prove 23:51  |  PETER SM 27/10/09
      52.   Of course Israel has committed "War Crimes" 00:07  |  RfaelMoshe 28/10/09
      53.   Michael Wiener - add what Israel does into the equation 00:41  |  CJ 28/10/09
      54.   realy? 01:41  |  oz 28/10/09
      55.   Same standards? Explains why..... 03:18  |  A TRUE American 28/10/09
      56.   Well, well, the can of worms is being opened 03:36  |  Lynn 28/10/09
      57.   Human rights & messenger killing 05:36  |  Sterling 28/10/09
      58.   v.hardman 05:50  |  stella westwell 28/10/09
      59.   Orly 05:54  |  stella westwell 28/10/09
      60.   HRW only investigates Governments 06:49  |  Miron 28/10/09
      61.   I am glad Human Rights Watch is laying down the law... 07:30  |  Dutch 28/10/09
      62.   Evenhandedness 17:12  |  David 29/10/09
      63.   jon: minimize civilian harm 17:33  |  stephanie 31/10/09
      64.   IDF most moral army 17:40  |  stephanie 31/10/09
      65.   cipora you are wrong 18:54  |  stephanie 31/10/09
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