« Urgent action alert - Stop support for Israel’s war crimes ! »

The PCHR and the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign urge you to act immediately :

Stop support for Israel’s war crimes !

Former Israel Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon was spared arrest or any proper prosecution process in New Zealand this past Tuesday, despite a decision the day before, by His Honour Judge Avinash Deobhakta in the District Court at Auckland to issue warrants for his arrest on suspicion of committing a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949.

Ya’alon’s escape from justice was facilitated by the intervention by the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney General, Michael Cullen.

Moshe Ya’alon was Chief of Staff of the Israeli Occupation Forces from 9 July 2002 to 1 June 2005. Under his command the Israeli Occupation Forces were responsible for a countless variety of extensive human rights violations and war crimes inside the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank.

However, the arrest warrant was extinguished by the Attorney General directing the District Court to stay the prosecution permanently. The Attorney General has given no reasons for crushing the warrant in time for the lawyers to appeal, despite the ruling of the judge that there were ‘good and sufficient reasons’ to justify the arrest of Moshe Ya’alon. Only after Ya’alon had been permitted to leave the country, he gave untenable motivations such as “unreliable materials” brought as evidence by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Hickman & Rose and the local lawyers.

Michael Cullen is not a lawyer. Instead he has accumulated an enormous amount of power being Deputy Prime Minister, Attorney-General, Justice Minister, the Finance Minister and Leader of the House at the same time. A highly politicized but not legally competent figure that has put all his influence against the legal prosecution of war crimes committed by Israel.

Raji Sourani, head of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has stated :

“We will not forget nor forgive, instead we will continue to do our best to bring the Israeli perpetrators of crimes against our people to justice - with all our professionalism and the support of a global network of lawyers. If international law is to serve, then it needs to be implemented.”

This has been an authentic act of impeding legal prosecution of war crimes !

Apartheid Israel needs to be held accountable !

The PCHR and the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign urge you to act immediately :

Please support this urgent call and alert the media and the responsible authorities in NZ about your outrage !

(See sample letters and contact info below. Please cc pchr@pghr.org and global@stopthewall.org in your letters.)

Michael Cullen must give a detailed account to the victims and his own public as to why the judge’s orders for Ya’alon to be arrested were not complied with. He needs to answer on what basis and powers did he instruct the police NOT to act on a legitimately issued warrant for arrest.

Justice for Palestine is needed NOW !

ENDS

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For further information on the case see : http://www.pchrgaza.ps/files/PressR/English/2006/127-2006.htm