PBI calls for respect for international law, protection of human rights defenders and an immediate cease-fire
Peace Brigades International (PBI), an organization that seeks to create space for peace and participate in the protection of human rights, shares the words of the UN Secretary General that “only a negotiated peace that satisfies the legitimate national aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis alike … can bring long-term stability to the people of this land and the broader Middle East region.“
➢ PBI stands in solidarity with all victims; when human rights are violated in one part of the world, they are violated everywhere. War is not the solution, armed confrontation will only increase the death and destruction and will take away the possibility of finding a negotiated and stable solution.
➢ PBI urges Israel to implement the provisional order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of January 26, 2024, to take measures to prevent genocide in Gaza. PBI also reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire.
In our 40 years of existence, the many human rights organizations and communities that we have accompanied in different countries have taught us to give importance to historical memory, so it is important to recognize the roots of the current situation: the Arab-Israeli war of 1948-1949 following the adoption of the United Nations Plan for the Partition of Palestine of 1947 and the consequent displacement of more than 700,000 inhabitants of Palestine. Since then, the violent conflict has not ceased. The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 left around 1,200 people killed and at least 240 kidnapped, and the State of Israel responded. Four months later, Israel’s military operation, according to sources considered by the ICJ, led to 25,700 Palestinians killed, more than 63,000 people injured, more than 360,000 homes destroyed or damaged and some 1.7 million people forcibly displaced inside Gaza.
Numerous UN statements have repeatedly warned of the grave risk of genocide of the Palestinian people by the conduct of the Israeli government and public forces in Gaza, and have also reminded all governments of their duty to prevent it. In January 2024, eight UN rapporteurs insisted: “Israel is not only killing and causing irreparable harm to Palestinian civilians with its indiscriminate shelling, but is also knowingly and intentionally imposing a high rate of disease, prolonged malnutrition, dehydration and starvation by destroying civilian infrastructure.”; Despite this, the situation continues to deteriorate and every day we lament new civilian casualties, attacks on health centers, educational centers, humanitarian equipment, as well as new forced displacements. On December 29, 2023, the Republic of South Africa submitted an application to the ICJ against Israel for alleged non-compliance in the Gaza Strip with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
In light of the foregoing, the Court considers in its decision on provisional measures, and before rendering its final judgment, that there is a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm to the rights contemplated by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It therefore calls upon the State of Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission, against the Palestinians in Gaza, of any act falling within the scope of Article II of the Convention, in particular it must ensure, with immediate effect, that its army does not commit any of the acts prohibited by the Convention. The Court also insists that the State of Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent and punish direct and public incitement to commit genocide against members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.
PBI asks for:
● An immediate ceasefire and that the international community concentrate all its efforts to open a phase of dialogue that seeks a sustainable and lasting peace.
● The international community to demand respect for International Humanitarian Law by all armed actors involved in the conflict. In particular the cessation of indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip, the cessation of bombing of medical, educational and humanitarian institutions, as well as free access to food and drinking water and allow access to humanitarian aid to civilian populations.
● To the international community in its mediating role to insist on the release of all persons kidnapped by the Hamas group and Palestinian persons arbitrarily detained by Israel.
● To the international community to show its strong support for such important institutions for global justice as the International Court of Justice.
● The international community to maintain its support for UN agencies and humanitarian organizations working in the Gaza Strip.
● We call on the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel and the armed groups involved in the conflict.
Peace Brigades International seeks to be faithful to its principle of non-partisanship which “does not mean neutrality or passivity in the face of injustice or the violation of human rights, and the violation of the right to freedom of expression, on the contrary:
PBI is fully committed to these values and fights against violence - physical or structural - as a means to establish lasting peace.”
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