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Saturday, 28 March 2009

URGENT APPEAL :Israel must be judged at the International Criminal Court - Universal petition


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Remember the Innocent Children
Remember the Innocent Children

COMMENT: I URGE EVERYONE WHO READS THIS TO SEND A LETTER TO THE PROSECUTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE. THE ISRAELI POLITICIANS AND MILITARY OFFICIALES MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE IN AN INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE FOR THE MASSACRE IN GAZA OF 1,400 CIVILIANS, OVER 5,000 WOUNDED, WITH 40% OF THE KILLED AND WOUNDED WERE CHILDREN. THE EVIDENCE OF WAR CRIMES IS OVERWHELMING!! WE MUST NOT BE SILENT. PLEASE SEE SAMPLE LETTER ON BOTTOM OF PAGE YOU CAN USE OR YOU CAN WRITE YOUR OWN LETTER. FOR SAMPLE LETTER IN OTHER LANGUAGES

CLICK HERE: ADMINISTRADER ELIAS FARHUD

Massacre of Civilians
Massacre of Civilians

Approximately 300 among NGOs and associations ask the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to open an investigation on the war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza. Our support is indispensable. Sign and circulate this urgent «universal petition».

After the letter from lawyer Gilles Devers to the NGOs, Tlaxcala launches a world civil campaign of letters to be mailed to the International Criminal Court asking it to prosecute Israel for “war crimes”

On January 19th, 2009, Tlaxcala, the Translators’ Network for Linguistic Diversity, had the pleasure of serving as multilingual messenger in a global initiative of NGOs and associations appealing to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the prosecution of Israeli representatives on the charges of the war crimes they committed in Gaza between December 27th, 2008 and January 18th, 2009.

Many things which were unthinkable just a few weeks ago have happened since then: two States, Bolivia and Venezuela, have broken diplomatic relations with Israel; of them, Bolivia officially accuses Israel of war crimes before the ICC; the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan publicly confronted Shimon Peres at the Davos World Economic Forum and told him that his country is a killing machine; two courts have accepted to investigate Israel for war crimes (the Spanish National Audience and a Turkish court; the ICC has started a preliminary analysis of this case; the initiative coordinated by the French lawyer Gilles Devers so far has received the support of more than 300 NGOs and associations from all over the world and, lastly, the campaign of signatures spread by Tlaxcala already has received more than 33,000 personal adhesions by citizens of the entire planet, desirous that justice puts an end once and for all to the historical impunity and violence of the institutional apparatuses of the State of Israel and to its slow genocide of the Palestinian people.

A few days ago, both the NGOs and associations participating in the initiative received a personal letter from Gilles Devers on behalf of the lawyers in charge of the legal aspects of this case.

As part of these associations, Tlaxcala has decided to translate and diffuse that letter.

We request the individual citizens who already signed through Internet – and also any other human being of good will – that they mail a letter to the International Criminal Court reaffirming their desire that it puts an end to the war crimes of the State of Israel.

Tlaxcala Executive Committee

Below you will find both Mr. Devers’ letter and an example of the letter he proposes to mail to the ICC:

Dear friends,

Since January 22nd, 2009, when we filed the petition to launch an investigation, the legal procedures have considerably advanced. The horror of Gaza’s aggression demands a fresh new reading of Law. After the petition by 350 NGO and associations, the Palestinian Authority has formally empowered the International Criminal Court. The first testimonies from Gaza confirm a deliberate will to both kill and destroy that go beyond military objectives. Henceforth, the skepticism that sometimes surrounded our procedure must leave space the taste of victory. Justice must prevail.

About forty lawyers are working in close collaboration. A website will be launched next week that will permit us to circulate information and reinforce contacts. We are going to file the first individual actions.

Proof of the progress of the action is CPI prosecutor Ocampo’s statement to the Times on February 2nd. Nothing is won yet, but let’s measure our advance:

«Prosecutor looks at ways to put Israeli officers on trial for Gaza ‘war crimes’

The International Criminal Court is exploring ways to prosecute Israeli commanders over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

When Palestinian groups petitioned the ICC this month, its prosecutor said that it was unable to take the case because it had no jurisdiction over Israel, a nonsignatory to the court. Now, however, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, has told The Times that he is examining the case for Palestinian jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in Gaza.

Palestinian groups have submitted arguments asserting that the Palestinian Authority is the de facto state in the territory where the crimes were allegedly committed.

“It is the territorial state that has to make a reference to the court. They are making an argument that the Palestinian Authority is, in reality, that state,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo told The Times at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Part of the Palestinian argument rests on the Israeli insistence that it has no responsibility for Gaza under international law since it withdrew from the territory in 2006. “They are quoting jurisprudence,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo said. “It’s very complicated. It’s a different kind of analysis I am doing. It may take a long time but I will make a decision according to law.”

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that his examination of the case did not necessarily reflect a belief that war crimes had been committed in Gaza. Determining jurisdiction was a first step, he said, and only after it had been decided could he launch an investigation.»

On behalf of the victims in Gaza we owe an exemplary mobilization.
Nothing is won yet but we have made considerable progress. Now we have to persuade. Efficient support brought to this action is a decisive element for the CPI.

So we call all signatory NGOs and associations to mobilize their members and friends for a campaign by citizens through individual letters mailed to the CPI prosecutor in order to give testimony of our hope in international justice.

Below you have a model of the letter, although you can write your own. Letters can be individually mailed or else be regrouped and sent by NGOs or organizations, and must be addressed to:(date)

SAMPLE LETTER TO PROSECUTOR OF THE INTENATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Mr. Prosecutor
International Criminal Court
PO BOX 19519
2500 CM, The Hague, Netherlands

Mr. Prosecutor,

Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009, will remain in History as one of the worst atrocities of the modern world. This defenceless and unprotected people denied any possibility of escape was a victim of the fury of an ultra-powerful army and everything points to the certainty that this army deliberately attacked civilians.

Who would understand if this crime remained unpunished? An unpunished Israel would permit the return of barbarism. Our gazes naturally turn toward international justice embodied by the ICC.
On behalf of human rights and in loving memory of those who died for the only reason that they were Palestinians, I ask you to launch an investigation to defend both the memory of the victims and Law, which is the sign of civilization.
Violence has had too often the last word in that region of the world. But peace must only rest on the respect of people’s rights.

Warm greetings from a citizen of the world,(signature)

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