The findings of the Goldstone report on the war in Gaza last December 2008 and January 2009 are being debated 4 and 5 November in the UN General Assembly in New York.The Goldstone investigation was commissioned by the UN to investigate allegations of war crimes during the brief war that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and 31 Israelis.
A resolution could be voted on that includes calls for the General Assembly to endorse the Goldstone report, that both Israel and the Palestinians conduct independent investigations into the allegations that war crimes were committed, and for the Secretary General of the UN to refer the matter to the Security Council.
The Goldstone report calls on both sides to investigate the allegations or else be referred to the Security Council for consideration by the International Criminal Court. Israel, which did not cooperate with investigators, has said it is opposed to the findings because they are biased.
US gives green light and is elected to Human Rights Council in Geneva
Update 12:30 Geneva, Switzerland and New York, USA (GenevaLunch) – The US was last night elected to a three-year term on the Geneva, Switzerland-based UN Human Rights Council, by the UN General Assembly, after years of refusing to participate in what it called a flawed institution. US President George Bush’s administration claimed that some countries manipulated the Council to hide human rights offenses, pointing to a group of members that included Russia, Cuba and others which the US said had suspect human rights records.
