Comm. On Gaza Flotilla:Political Echelon Could Be Held Criminally Accountable For Alleged IDF War...

[Purveyor]

Committee on Gaza flotilla: Political echelon could be held criminally accountable for alleged IDF war crimes in future probes

The Turkel Committee, which investigated the 2010 Israel Defense Forces sea raid on the Mavi Marmara as it tried to break the Gaza blockade, recommends dramatic changes in the way decisions are made about opening investigations of possible war crimes by IDF soldiers against Palestinians.

The committee, made up of Israeli and foreign dignitaries, states that the decision whether to open a criminal investigation should not be in any way dependent on the results of operational investigations conducted by the army, contrary to the IDF’s position on the matter.

In January 2011, the panel submitted the first part of its report, which dealt with the failures that occurred during the seizure of the Mavi Marmara in May 2010. Since the release of the first section, the committee has been working on the second part, which deals with Israel’s methods of investigating claims that its security forces violated the rules of war or international law.

This section of the report, some 1,000 pages long, was submitted today to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/committee-on-gaza-flotilla-political-echelon-could-be-held-criminally-accountable-for-alleged-idf-war-crimes-in-future-probes.premium-1.501784

[oberliner]

1. Kudos to Israel for launching such a professional and independent inquiry

It speaks volumes that Israel itself would initiate a commission like this.