URGENT ALERT: Palestine – Write to the foreign minister of your country urging for creation of Israeli war crimes tribunal

Islamic Human Rights Commission

22 January 2009

In light of the latest massacre of over 1,300 Palestinians, the IHRC calls on campaigners to write to their foreign ministers urging for the creation of an Israeli war crimes tribunal.

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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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22 January 2009

URGENT ALERT: Palestine – Write to the foreign minister of your country urging for creation of Israeli war crimes tribunal

Contents
1. Summary
2. Background
3. Action required
4. Sample letter
5. Addresses for sample letter

1. Summary

With more than 1,300 Gazans having been killed and nearly 6,000 injured, the Islamic Human Rights Commission calls on campaigners to send letters to their country’s foreign minister to urge the UN General Assembly to establish an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI).

2. Background

After twenty two days of consecutive bombardment of Gaza, and a still increasing death toll, people all over the world are calling for Israel to be held to account. Campaigners are urged to continue airing their grievances against the Israeli transgression, and are now asked to send letters to their country’s foreign minister, urging for the long-overdue establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI), under UN Charter Article 22.

The call for an International Criminal Tribunal in no way sets a precedent as such tribunals were created to deal with both the genocide in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Francis A. Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois, in calling for the creation of such an Israeli war crimes tribunal, said:

“The establishment of ICTI would provide some small degree of justice to the victims of Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine–just as the ICTY has done in the Balkans. Furthermore, the establishment of ICTI by the UN General Assembly would serve as a deterrent effect upon Israeli leaders such as Prime Minister Olmert, Foreign Minister Livni, Defense Minister Barak , Chief of Staff Ashkenazi and Israel’s other top generals that they will be prosecuted for their further infliction of international crimes upon the Lebanese and the Palestinians.”

3. Action required

Write to the foreign minister of your country urging for the establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI), under UN Charter Article 22.

4. Sample letter

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If you receive a reply to the letter you send, we request you to send a copy of the letter you sent and the reply you received to IHRC. This is extremely important as it helps IHRC to monitor the situation with regards to our campaigns and to improve upon the current model letters.

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Sample letter to the British Foreign Minister David Miliband. Please replace the Foreign Minister’s name and address with the name and address of the foreign minister in your country using the addresses following the sample letter.

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