UN rights body adopts resolution on Israel accountability for possible war crimes
Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital was destroyed in an Israeli assault (Photo: AFP)
GENEVA: The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday (Apr 5) adopted a resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, although Israel dismissed it as a "distorted text".
Twenty-eight countries voted in favour, 13 abstained and six opposed the resolution, including the United States and Germany. The adoption prompted several representatives to the Council to cheer and clap.
The Human Rights Council is made up of 47 member states, which are elected by the majority of members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballots.
Members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.
The Council's Membership is based on "equitable geographical distribution". Asia Pacific states are granted 13 seats on the council. The current Southeast Asian countries on the council are Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The resolution stressed "the need to ensure accountability for all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in order to end impunity".
It also expressed "grave concern at reports of serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory".
Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, accused the Council of having "long abandoned the Israeli people and long defended Hamas".
"According to the resolution before you today, Israel has no right to protect its people, while Hamas has every right to murder and torture innocent Israelis," she said ahead of the vote. "A vote 'Yes' is a vote for Hamas."
The United States had pledged to vote against the resolution because it did not contain a specific condemnation of Hamas for the Oct 7 attacks, nor "any reference to the terrorist nature of those actions".
It did, however, said that its ally Israel had not done enough to mitigate harm to civilians.
"The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to de-conflict military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties and to ensure humanitarian actors can carry out their essential mission in safety," said Michèle Taylor, US permanent representative to the Council.
"That has not happened and, in just six months, more humanitarians have been killed in this conflict than in any war of the modern era."
The UN Human Rights Council, which meets several times a year, is the only inter-governmental body designed to protect human rights worldwide. It can increase scrutiny of countries' human rights records and authorise investigations.
