PA wants UN standing committee to monitor Goldstone implementation

The Palestinian Authority is acting to set up a standing committee to monitor implementation of the Goldstone report on a permanent basis, and to assess the credibility of Israeli investigations into allegations from the Goldstone report.

In a move that has angered Israel, the PA has submitted a draft resolution proposal regarding this committee to the UN Human Rights Council, which is meeting in Geneva next Monday to discuss the Goldstone report's implementation.

"The Foreign Ministry is studying the Palestinian draft. We don't want to discuss it," Foreign Ministry deputy director general for media and public relations, Yigal Caspi, told Haaretz. The ministry has instructed all officials involved in thwarting the Palestinian initiative to say nothing about it, officials said.

The proposal, drafted by the Palestinian UNHRC delegate and representatives of the Arab League and Organization of the Islamic Conference, which was obtained by Haaretz, says the committee would also oversee the Israeli inquiries into the military operation in December 2008-January 2009 to ensure their reliability. The 47-strong UNHRC consists mainly of third world, Arab or non-aligned member states.

Israel wants to preserve the coalition it has put together against the Goldstone report, including the United States and a few other Western states.

The proposal, drafted on March 15, says the UNHRC "decides to establish a Committee of Independent Experts in international humanitarian and human rights laws to monitor and assess any domestic, legal or other proceedings undertaken by both Israel and the Palestinian side," in order to implement the Goldstone report and UN General Assembly resolutions on this matter.

The committee's supervision and examination will focus on the "independence, effectiveness, genuineness of these investigations and their conformity with international standards," the proposal says. The committee's members will be appointed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

The new committee will serve as a standing UN apparatus intended for long-term operation rather than for writing a single report, as in the Goldstone Commission case. It will submit reports to the HRC at least twice a year.

Israel is taking a very grim view of the Palestinian Authority's anti-Israeli activity regarding the offensive in Gaza and the Goldstone report in international institutions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his advisors see this activity as part of the Palestinians' "incitement campaign" against Israel, officials said.

The HRC "reiterates its call upon all concerned parties including the United Nations bodies to ensure their implementation of the recommendations" in Goldstone's report, the draft says.

It calls on both Israel and the Palestinians "to conduct investigations that are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards" into the serious violations of humanitarian and human rights reported by Goldstone's fact-finding mission, the draft says.

The HRC calls to set up "an escrow fund for the provision of reparations to Palestinians who suffered loss and damage as a result of unlawful acts attributable to Israel during the military operations," the draft says.

The draft also addresses Israel's alleged use of illegal weapons during the Gaza offensive. It says the HRC "invites the International Committee of the Red Cross and interested parties ... to consider the launching of an urgent discussion on the legality of the use of certain munitions," as recommended by the Goldstone committee.