Human Rights Watch has branded the Human Rights Council’s failure to endorse the Goldstone report, and its March 2010 deferral on voting on the report, “a terrible message that serious laws-of-war violations by allied states would be tolerated”.

  
The decision came after the Palestinian delegation reportedly dropped its support for an immediate vote, clearing the way for Arab and Muslim states who had also supported the report to instead delay its consideration.
 

A diplomatic source said the move had followed intense lobbying by the United States, which is seeking to restart peace negotiations in the Middle East. "There is agreement to defer given immense pressure from the United States," he told Reuters.

Human Rights Watch claims that the US and the other countries blocking action at the council now have an obligation to push Israel and Hamas in the carrying out of credible investigations.

Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said “The United States won Israel a reprieve on the Goldstone report, so now it must ensure that Israel genuinely investigates allegations of abuse”, adding, “If this doesn’t happen by March, then the US should endorse the Goldstone report’s call for international mechanisms of accountability.”

War crimes
The mission, led by Justice Richard Goldstone, presented its report to the Human Rights Council last Tuesday. The report found both Israel and Hamas guilty of war crimes.

The report recommends that both Israel and the Gaza authorities conduct open and transparent investigations into possible crimes committed during the conflict. It also recommends the UN Security Council set up a committee of independent experts to monitor the progress of these investigations. Should the investigations fail to materialise within a 6-month period, the report recommends that the Security Council refer the matter to the International Criminal Court.

In his concluding remarks, Goldstone stressed the importance of implementing the report’s recommendations. “Now is the time for action”, he said. “A culture of impunity in the region has existed for too long.”

Peace Process
The report comes at a politically sensitive time given recent US efforts to re-start the stalled peace talks.
 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the United Nations would deal a "fatal blow" to prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace if it endorsed the Goldstone report.
 

He added at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting, "Israel will not be able to take further steps and take risks for peace if it is denied the right of self-defence".

Source: Reuters