Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
UN / GOLDSTONE
STORY: UN / GOLDSTONE
SOURCE: UNTV/ UNICEF/ UNDP
TRT: 3.18
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 15 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1.Wide shot, exterior UN building
15 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
2.Wide shot, Goldstone at the dais
3.Wide shot, reporters
4.SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Goldstone, Head of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict:
“We came to the conclusion, on the basis of the facts we found, that there was strong evidence to establish that numerous serious violations of international law, both humanitarian law and human rights law were committed by Israel during the military operations in Gaza. The mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes and possibly in some respects to crimes against humanity were committed by the Israel Defence Force.”
FILE – UNICEF - 14 JANUARY 2009, AL SHATEE CAMP, GAZA
5.Various shots, destroyed buildings
15 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
6.SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Goldstone, Head of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict:
“There is no justification in international humanitarian law, or from any moral point of view, to mortar the mosque during the service with hundreds of civilians there. If there we weapons there, and the mosque was a justifiable target it could have been attacked in the wee hours of the night or certainly at a time when it wasn’t being used for a service with civilians present. And aside, there was no evidence of secondary explosions that one would expect if there were weapons being stored there.”
FILE –UNDP - 9 FEBRUARY 2009, NORTHERN GAZA
7.Traveling shot, destruction in Northern Gaza
15 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
8.SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Goldstone, Head of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict:
“Some hundreds of factories, many of them food factories, were bombed. Many agricultural fields were bulldozed and destroyed. Now, we came to the conclusion that that sort of destruction cannot be justified by international law and particularly by international humanitarian law at all. It really has nothing to do with the purpose which Israel gave for the military operation, mainly to stop the firing of rockets and mortars.”
FILE –UNDP - 9 FEBRUARY 2009, NORTHERN GAZA
9.Pan left, destruction site of the 'American International School in Gaza', and other building
15 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
10.SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Goldstone, Head of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict:
“We came to the conclusion that we should recommend to the Security Council that it should require Israel to report within six months on investigations and prosecutions that it is carrying out that comply with international standards with regard to violations referred to in this report and any others that may come to its attention and may emerge.”
FILE – UNICEF - 22 JANUARY 2009, KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA, GAZA STRIP
11.Wide shot, boys in rubble
12.Wide shot, destruction
15 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
13.SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Goldstone, Head of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict:
“I think it’s grossly wrong to label a mission or to label a report that is critical of Israel as being anti-Israel. To accuse me of being anti-Israel is ridiculous and it seems to me that it is in the interest of Israel and in the interest of Palestine, of Palestinians that the truth be established, and be established credibly and efficiently. It’s in their interest.”
JANUARY 2009 GAZA, GAZA STRIP
14.Med shot, damaged apartment building
15.Wide shot, children in the streets g
Richard Goldstone, Head of the UN fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict, announced today (15 Sept) that the mission found, “strong evidence to establish that numerous serious violations of international law” amounting to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity were committed by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) during the January invasion of Gaza.
The fact-finding mission also found that Palestinian militants committed crimes and breaches of humanitarian law, which may also amount to crimes against humanity.
The 575-page report by the four-person mission was released today, ahead of its presentation to the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva on 29 September.
At today’s briefing, Justice Goldstone said the mission had investigated 36 incidents that took place during the Israeli operation in Gaza, which he said did not relate to decisions taken in the heat of battle, but to deliberate policies that were adopted and decisions that were taken.
As an example, he described one such incident: a mortar attack on a mosque in Gaza during a religious service, which killed 15 members of the congregation and injured many others. Justice Goldstone said that even if allegations that the mosque was used as sanctuary by military groups and that weapons were stored there were true, there was still “no justification under international humanitarian law to mortar the mosque during a service,” because it could have been attacked during the night, when it was not being used by civilians."
He went on to criticize the targeting of industrial sites and water installations by the IDF and said that the mission concluded that “that sort of destruction cannot be justified by international law and particularly by international humanitarian law at all” as it “has nothing to do with the purpose which Israel gave for the military operation, mainly to stop the firing of rockets and mortars.”
On the objectives and strategy of Israel’s military operation, the mission concluded that military planners deliberately followed a doctrine which involved the application of disproportionate force and the report recommended that the Security Council should require Israel to take steps to launch appropriate independent “investigations and prosecutions that it is carrying out that comply with international standards into the alleged crimes committed”, and report back on these investigations within six months.
It further called on the Security Council to appoint a committee of experts to monitor the proceedings taken by the Israeli Government. If these did not take place, or were not independent and in conformity with international standards, the report called for the Security Council to refer the situation in Gaza to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
It also called on the Security Council to require the committee of experts to perform a similar role with regard to the relevant Palestinian authorities.
Justice Goldstone vehemently defended the impartiality of the report and said that “it’s grossly wrong to label a mission or to label a report that is critical of Israel as being anti-Israel”. He added that to accuse him of being anti-Israel is “ridiculous”; pointing out that he is Jewish and has many personal ties with Israel.
Download
There is no media available to download.
