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>From http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,707155,00.html
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World dispatch
Sharon gives succour to Saddam
Israel's obstruction of the UN team set to investigate the attack on Jenin has given
support to the Iraqi dictator, who has used the same tactics with weapons inspectors
for years, writes Brian Whitaker
Brian Whitaker
Monday April 29, 2002
The Guardian
The Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, celebrated his 65th birthday in great style at the
weekend, but he also has another reason to be cheerful. His strategy for defying the
United Nations now has unexpected support from the Israeli prime minister, Ariel
Sharon.
In 1998, following a series of confrontations with the Iraqi authorities, UN weapons
inspectors were forced to leave Baghdad. The United States, supported by Britain,
responded with a series of military strikes intended, as the Pentagon put it, "to
demonstrate to Saddam Hussein the consequences of violating international
obligations".
The inspections were ordered by the UN security council back in 1991 and therefore
have the force of law: Iraq is obliged to accept them or face the consequences.
But, for the last four years, Iraq has been haggling over the inspectors' return. It
wants, in effect, to vet the members of the inspection team, to have an agreed list of
alleged weapons sites that will be inspected and to have a time limit for the
inspections to be completed.
The US, not unreasonably, suspects this is a ruse to ensure that any inspections will
find nothing untoward. Iraq, the US believes, wants inspectors who have as little
knowledge as possible of the weapons they are looking for, wants a list of inspection
sites so that it can clean them up well in advance, and wants a time limit so that it
can prevaricate and eventually call a halt if the inspectors ever get close to finding
something incriminating.
All this is remarkably similar to the developing confrontation between the UN and
Israel over the investigation of suspected war crimes at Jenin. The allegations are:
· That the Israeli forces, aware that they were attacking a densely populated refugee
camp, failed to take reasonable steps to protect civilians;
· That after the battle was over they wilfully prevented humanitarian access to the
injured or dying, and that medical workers were attacked;
· That they bulldozed houses without checking that there was no one inside;
· That they used detainees as human shields;
· That they shot some Palestinians who had either surrendered or were in the
process of doing so.
These extremely serious allegations result from investigations by several respected
bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Amnesty
International, as well as the reports of numerous foreign journalists.
Israel's argument that the action was justified because Jenin had become "the
capital" of suicide bombers does not cut much ice in international law. "When we are
confronted with the extent of destruction in an area of civilian concentration, it is
difficult to accept that international humanitarian law has been fully respected," Rene
Kosirnik, the head of the ICRC delegation in the region, said.
"What the law says is that you cannot attack or destroy civilians or civilian
property. If
you are in a military operation you have to take utmost care. If you suspect that your
operation will cause disproportionate damage to civilians or civilian property then you
have to stop the operation."
As in the case of Iraq and the weapons inspections, there are good reasons for
having a thorough investigation of events in Jenin to determine whether Israel has
met its international obligations and - to borrow the Pentagon's phrase - "to
demonstrate the consequences" if it turns out to have violated them.
The UN security council's efforts got off to a half-hearted start with Resolution 1403,
approved on April 19, which talked about sending "a fact-finding team" but without
giving them any powers to subpoena witnesses or requisition evidence. This means
that the mission's effectiveness - or otherwise - will be heavily dependent on
cooperation from the Israeli authorities.
As soon as the resolution was approved, Israel launched into Iraq's choose-your-
own-inspectors game by issuing a list of people who would be "unacceptable" as
members of the team. These included Mary Robinson, the UN human rights
commissioner, and Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace
process.
In the event, the UN secretary-general chose Martti Ahtisaari, a former president of
Finland who is also a veteran trouble-shooter from the Balkans conflict, to lead the
team. He was joined by Cornelio Sommaruga, the Swiss former president of the
ICRC, and Sadako Ogata of Japan, a former UN high commissioner for refugees.
Concerned that the investigation would concentrate on human rights abuses and
possible war crimes (as it should), Israel has been seeking to pack the team with
security experts who may be less concerned with such issues and more receptive to
Israeli views.
So William Nash, a retired US Army general has been appointed as military adviser
and Peter Fitzgerald of Ireland as a police adviser. Whether Gen Nash is actually a
full member of the team is still unclear. A British army officer, Colonel Miles Wade,
has also been appointed.
Israel has argued that since the purpose of the mission is "fact finding", it should
limit
itself to finding facts and not draw any conclusions from them or make any
recommendations. This appears to have been rejected.
In addition, Israel has asked to see the team's report before it is presented to the
security council - presumably so that it can demand changes to any parts that it does
not like. The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, has so far refused and says Israel
will get a copy at the same time as the security council members.
Israel has also demanded immunity from prosecution for any soldiers who give
evidence to the UN team. According to the Israeli press, the UN has agreed to this,
though the real position seems a bit more complicated.
Witnesses will not be identified - which means they cannot be prosecuted for what
they tell the investigators. That would not necessarily prevent their prosecution on
the
basis of evidence gathered through different channels.
Since the investigating team has no legal powers, Israel will also be in a position to
decide which members of its army will give evidence and which will not.
"Israel will determine who will testify on its behalf," the foreign minister, Shimon
Peres, told Israel Radio at the weekend. "That is the central point."
The "fact finders" had been due to arrive in Jenin last Saturday but delayed their
journey for 24 hours, at Israel's request, to allow time for the Israeli cabinet to
approve their visit. The cabinet met on Sunday and - surprise, surprise - decided not
to approve it after all.
As a result, the investigators have still not arrived and the security council is
puzzling
over its next move. Israel insists it is not refusing admission to the UN team. They
are welcome to visit as tourists, Zalman Shoval, an adviser to Mr Sharon, said -
adding that the tourists might not be allowed to go to Jenin.
For Saddam Hussein, the standoff between Israel and the UN is extremely good
news. The United States wants to remove him from power and is looking for a
plausible reason to do so. Until recently, his obstruction of UN weapons inspections
offered the most likely justification for an attack.
But now Israel has gone down the same route as Iraq, obstructing the UN over Jenin.
That can only weaken the Pentagon's case for teaching Saddam Hussein "the
consequences of violating international obligations" - unless, in some unaccustomed
moment of lucidity, the US resolves to enforce compliance with international
obligations ... by all countries, equally.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
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