Flooding South Lebanon - Human Rights Watch

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Acknowledgements This report was written by Bonnie Docherty, researcher in the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch, Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch, and Steve Goose, executive director of the Arms Division, with contributions from Mark Hiznay, senior researcher in the Arms Division, and Thomas Becker and Stacy Humes-Schulz, students in the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program. Field research was done by Bonnie Docherty, Marc Garlasco, Mark Hiznay, Nadim Houry, researcher in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Division of Human Rights Watch, Lucy Mair, researcher in the MENA Division, as well as Thomas Becker and Stacy Humes-Schulz. Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the MENA Division, edited the report. Dinah PoKempner, general counsel at Human Rights Watch, provided legal review. Andrew Mawson, deputy program director, provided program review. Rachel Good, coordinator in the Arms Division, provided research and production assistance. This report was prepared for publication by Rachel Good, Andrea Holley, director of publications, Grace Choi, publications specialist, and Fitzroy Hepkins, mail manager. Human Rights Watch would like to thank Matthew McKinzie of the Natural Resources Defense Counsel for providing the maps and satellite imagery graphics, and Digital Globe for the satellite images. Human Rights Watch would also like to thank all of the people in Lebanon who provided assistance with this report, including victims, witnesses, deminers, NGO representatives, and government officials. Finally, Human Rights Watch would like to express its appreciation for the financial support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. 131 Human Rights Watch February 2008
H UMAN R I GHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue, 34 th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 www.hrw.org H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H Flooding South Lebanon Israel’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon in July and August 2006 During its 34-day war with Hezbollah in July and August 2006, Israel rained an estimated 4 million cluster submunitions on south Lebanon, 90 percent in the last three days of the conflict. Human Rights Watch’s research has found that the Israel Defense Force’s use of cluster munitions was indiscriminate and disproportionate, in violation of international humanitarian law. By the start of 2008, the strikes, and especially the enduring legacy of up to 1 million unexploded submunitions left behind, had caused more than 190 civilian casualties. Remaining duds continue to threaten civilians. Human Rights Watch’s researchers on the ground in Lebanon during and after the war found that many strikes landed in or near villages. Israel used both Vietnam war-era submunitions with high dud rates and newer, high-tech models that failed to perform as designed. Cluster duds have maimed and killed children who thought they were toys, civilians returning to their towns, and farmers working in their fields. Israel’s failure to mount credible, transparent investigations one and a half years after the end of the 2006 conflict reaffirms the need for an International Commission of Inquiry to investigate reports of violations of international humanitarian law, including possible war crimes. The lasting civilian impact of Israel’s use of cluster munitions in south Lebanon underlines the need for an international treaty to ban cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. Negotiations are underway—this report shows why they are urgent. Rusha Zayoun, 17, lost her leg to a cluster submunition launched in 2006 by Israel on the village of Maaraki, Lebanon. The submunition, like many in Lebanon, failed to explode on impact, but detonated later, wounding her and her mother. © 2007 Stuart Freedman/Panos Pictures
Page 1 and 2:
Lebanon Flooding South Lebanon Isra
Page 3 and 4:
Civilian Harm......................
Page 6 and 7:
Acronyms BLU CBU CCW COI DPICM ICRC
Page 8 and 9:
Summary The Israel Defense Forces (
Page 10 and 11:
Israel’s strikes in 2006 were the
Page 12 and 13:
leaving behind vast numbers of haza
Page 14 and 15:
compensate for the cluster rockets
Page 16 and 17:
immediately before a negotiated cea
Page 18 and 19:
knowingly or recklessly indiscrimin
Page 20 and 21:
production, transfer and stockpilin
Page 22 and 23:
numerous men, women, and children w
Page 24 and 25:
To the Secretary-General of the Uni
Page 26 and 27:
Cluster Munitions and International
Page 28 and 29:
At least 14 states and a small numb
Page 30 and 31:
• Refraining from launching attac
Page 32 and 33:
This does not just mean immediate c
Page 34 and 35:
Israel is a major producer and expo
Page 36 and 37:
Types of Cluster Munitions and Subm
Page 38 and 39:
An unexploded M77, a US-made dual p
Page 40 and 41:
This CBU-58B cluster bomb casing, s
Page 42 and 43:
likely that the MZD-2s found in Leb
Page 44 and 45:
contaminated by submunitions. 89 Ho
Page 46 and 47:
Timing and Targets: When and How Cl
Page 48 and 49:
with 500-pound bombs. The increase
Page 50 and 51:
Human Rights Watch field research c
Page 52 and 53:
percent, and dismissed the problem
Page 54 and 55:
A UNIFIL deminer holds an Israeli-m
Page 56 and 57:
Civilian Harm Cluster munitions hav
Page 58 and 59:
51 Human Rights Watch February 2008
Page 60 and 61:
submunition causing it to explode.
Page 62 and 63:
Dr. `Abdel Nasser Farran told Human
Page 64 and 65:
Agriculture Perhaps the most danger
Page 66 and 67:
exploded, and a young woman was pic
Page 68 and 69:
from the war. 180 Tragedy struck wh
Page 70 and 71:
injured in my legs. I still can’t
Page 72 and 73:
in operation for many years, includ
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
the grove of fruit trees. Though sh
Page 80 and 81:
of the fighting. Although no one is
Page 82 and 83:
oad to visit his cousin when his br
Page 84 and 85:
Four-year-old `Ali Muhammad Yaghi w
Page 86 and 87:
place.” 237 Assessing the monetar
Page 88 and 89: especially because we needed to irr
Page 90 and 91: conflict interrupted existing clear
Page 92 and 93: An engine from a US-made M26 Multip
Page 94 and 95: duds around villages. 268 With the
Page 96 and 97: Various reasons exist as to why com
Page 98 and 99: Lack of Israeli Assistance Perhaps
Page 100 and 101: checkpoints. Similarly, UNIFIL has
Page 102 and 103: Israel’s Statements on the Use of
Page 104 and 105: This statement followed the finding
Page 106 and 107: investigations into Israel’s appa
Page 108 and 109: that would confirm that these weapo
Page 110 and 111: specific to the weapons. When conce
Page 112 and 113: disregard of that character, they g
Page 114 and 115: employed, the way that they were us
Page 116 and 117: are antipersonnel, area denial weap
Page 118 and 119: emain to take care of elderly or si
Page 120 and 121: early 2007 aimed at identifying the
Page 122 and 123: the United States, there is little
Page 124 and 125: Conclusion Israel’s use of cluste
Page 126 and 127: kidnapped IDF soldiers, and so aver
Page 128 and 129: Proportionality A further legal req
Page 130 and 131: In practice, this requires that the
Page 132 and 133: neutralization offers a definite mi
Page 134 and 135: it is more brutal. If Hizbullah had
Page 136 and 137: Another issue of humanitarian conce
show all

Flooding South Lebanon - Human Rights Watch

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?