NOVANEWS
This morning, on Tuesday 23 April 2013, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) opened the international legal conference it organizes in Malaga, titled “Pursuing justice and redress for Palestinian victims: developing strategies for advocacy and litigation”. This is the fourth conference of its kind organized by PCHR, in close cooperation with international partners, especially Al Quds Malaga, and attended by Palestinian, Israeli, and international human rights organizations and lawyers.
During the first day, the participants offered their analysis of the procedures in place in the Israeli civil and criminal legal systems. Through sharing their experiences of litigating on behalf of Palestinian victims of Israeli violations, the participants in the conference aim to develop effective legal and advocacy strategies.
This conference relates, amongst other issues, to recent developments within the Israeli legal system, which are effectively blocking nearly all avenues for access to justice for Palestinian victims. The most recent of these developments is Amendment No. 8 to the Israeli Tort Law, which came into force in 2012. This amendmentabsolves the State of Israel of any liability arising from damages caused to a resident of an enemy territory during a “combat action”, and has led to the dismissal of a number of civil complaints submitted by PCHR on behalf of victims of Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip
Discussion also centred around other legal, practical, and procedural obstacles that have been put in place over a number of years, and which have made it practically impossible for victims to pursue accountability and their right to redress
PCHR is convening the conference with the aim of developing possible legal and advocacy strategies for moving forward. These challenges to access to justice must be addressed through in-depth discussions involving many human rights organizations and lawyers who should adopt a unified position. If it is concluded that the domestic legal system is blocked, this means international legal mechanisms for justice are the only available alternatives available to victims, such as the International Criminal Court, following the recognition of Palestine as a State by the UN General Assembly.
