Síðustu daga höfum við orðið vitni að árásum á almenna borgara í Líbanon og Ísrael. Amnesty International hefur þungar áhyggjur af því að almennir borgarar beri hitann og þungann af hinni vaxandi spennu milli Ísrael og Líbanon.
Síðustu daga höfum við orðið vitni að árásum á almenna borgara í Líbanon og Ísrael. Amnesty International hefur þungar áhyggjur af því að almennir borgarar beri hitann og þungann af hinni vaxandi spennu milli Ísrael og Líbanon. Á síðustu vikum hafa a.m.k 300 líbanskir borgarar verið drepnir, þar á meðal fjöldi barna og fjölmargir hafa særst í stórfelldum sprengjuárásum ísraelska hersins á landið. Árásunum hefur verið beint að mannvirkjum. Brýr, vegir, orkuver, flugvellir og hafnir hafa eyðilagst í árásunum auk annarra borgaralegra mannvirkja. Þúsundir hafa misst heimili sín og lífsafkomu í kjölfar árásanna.
Árásir Ísraela haf neytt hundruð þúsunda almennra borgara til að flýja heimili sín og þúsundir eru enn í mikilli hættu. Ísraelski herinn hefur hvatt fólk til að yfirgefa heimili sín en hefur samtímis varpað sprengjum á brýr og vegi og þannig gert fólk innlyksa og komið í veg fyrir að það geti flúið árásirnar.
Vopnaðir félagar í Hizbullah hafa drepið 15 almenna ísraelska borgara, þar á meðal þrjú börn, og sært hundruð annarra í eldflaugaárásum á Ísrael. Árásirnar hafa eyðilagt heimili og eignir í borgum og bæjum í norðurhluta Ísrael.
Amnesty International hefur hvatt Öryggisráð Sameinuðu þjóðanna til að bregðast þegar við þeim grófu brotum á alþjóðalögum, þ.á.m stríðsglæpum, sem framin hafa verið og koma í veg fyrir frekari brot. Samtökin hafa einnig hvatt ráðið til að tryggja öryggi almennra borgara sem þjást mest í átökunum, sérstaklega íbúar Líbanon en einnig almennir borgarar í Ísrael.
Amnesty International hefur auk þess farið fram á að öll vopnasala verði nú þegar stöðvuð til Ísrael og Hiszbullah.
Okkur hér í Íslandsdeildinni hafa borist bréf frá Amnesty-félögum í Ísrael, Palestínu og Líbanon. Þar kemur fram að félaga og fjölskyldur þeirra hefur ekki sakað og deildirnar þar taka þátt í aðgerðum samtakanna til að koma í veg fyrir frekari mannréttindabrot.
Félagar í Íslandsdeildinni og aðrir eru hvattir til að afrita bréfin hér að neðan og senda til forsætisráðherra Ísrael Ehud Olmert, ritara Hizbullah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah og til forsætisráðherra Líbanon Fouad Siniora.
Vinsamlega sendið bréfin bæði á tölvupósti og í almennum pósti.
Bréf til Ísrael
Ehud Olmert
Prime Minister and Minister for Social Welfare and Science and Technology Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street
P O Box 187
Kiryat Ben-Gurion
Jerusalem 91919
Israel
rohm@pmo.gov.il
pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Dear Prime Minister,
I am writing to express my deepest concern about the killing of more than 300 civilian Lebanese, including dozens of children, by Israeli air strikes in Lebanon in the week since 12 July. Hundreds of other civilians have been injured during those attacks as well.
During their air strikes, the Israeli forces have also damaged civilian infrastructure throughout Lebanon. They have deliberately targeted and destroyed dozens of bridges, roads, powers stations, the international airport and ports, grain silos and other facilities. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes, notably in South Lebanon and in the suburbs of the capital, Beirut. Such attacks are a blatant breach of international humanitarian law and some amount to war crimes.
Amnesty International condemns unreservedly attacks by Hizbullah against Israeli civilians and continues to campaign against such attacks, including the launching of “katyusha” rockets into Israel. The organization is campaigning to put pressure on Hizbullah to immediately end such attacks, which have killed 15 Israeli civilians since 12 Julyl. Since the capture by Hizbullah of two Israeli soldiers, on 12 July, Amnesty International has been calling for them not to be harmed and to be allowed immediate access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
I urge you to take urgent steps to put an immediate end to deliberate attacks by Israeli forces against civilian and civilian property and infrastructure in Lebanon. These attacks constitute collective punishment. I call on you to end the use of excessive and disproportionate force, and to ensure that Israeli forces respect the principle of proportionality when targeting any military objective or civilian objective that may be used for military purposes.
Yours sincerely,
Bréf til Hizbullah
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah
Secretary General Hizbullah
POB 13585, Beirut
Lebanon
hizbollah@hizbollah.org
Dear Sir,
I am writing to express my concern about the killing of civilians in both Lebanon and Israel. In the week since 12 July, more than 300 Lebanese civilians, including dozens of children have been killed by the Israeli air strikes against Lebanon and hundreds more have been injured. Amnesty International condemns unreservedly the massive attacks carried out by the Israeli military against civilians and civilian infrastructure throughout Lebanon, and is calling on Israel to immediately cease such attacks and to respect international humanitarian law.
We are also concerned about Hizbullah attacks against Israeli civilians, some 15 of whom have been killed by rockets launched by Hizbullah. Such attacks have also caused substantial damage to homes and other civilian property.
I urge you to ensure that Hizbullah’s armed wing put an immediate end to the targeting of Israeli civilians, notably the launch of rockets into Israeli towns and villages and that Hizbullah fighters do not initiate armed attacks from residential civilian areas and avoid locating military objectives within civilian areas. I also call on you not to harm the two Israeli soldiers whom Hizbullah captured and to grant them access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Sincerely,
Bréf til Líbanon
Fouad Siniora
Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister
Grand Sérail
Rue des Arts et Métiersil
Sanayeh, Beirut
Lebanon
rhoffice@cyberia.net.lb
Dear Prime Minister,
I am writing to express my concern about the killing of civilians both in Lebanon and Israel. Since 12 July, some 300 Lebanese civilians, including dozens of children have been killed by Israeli air strikes against Lebanon and hundreds more have been injured. Amnesty International condemns unreservedly the massive attacks carried out by the Israeli army against civilians and civilian infrastructure throughout Lebanon, and is calling on Israel to immediately cease such attacks and to respect international humanitarian law.
We are also concerned about Hizbullah attacks against Israeli civilians, some 15 of whom have been killed by rocket launched by Hizbullah. Such attacks have also caused substantial damage to homes and other civilian properties.
I urge you to take measures to ensure that Hizbullah immediately ends its targeting of Israeli civilians, notably its firing of Katyusha rockets and other projectiles into Israeli towns and villages, and that Hizbullah fighters do not initiate armed attacks from residential civilian areas and avoid locating military objectives within civilian areas. I also call on you to ensure that Hizbullah treats the two captured Israeli soldiers humanely and allow them immediate access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Sincerely,