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Brussels: Gaza & Goldstone Report
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) called Tuesday on the 27-member European Union to play a leading role towards the full endorsement of the Goldstone Report and its recommendations by the UN General Assembly.
The General Assembly is to discuss the report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict called the "Goldstone Report" in New York on Wednesday.
"The report is a significant step forward towards justice and redress for the victims, in a region which has suffered from a culture of impunity and disrespect for the rule of law for too long," the two groups said in a joint statement.
The Goldstone Report is a watershed and its endorsement by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on 16 October in Geneva represented a major step towards the promotion of human rights and the rule of law, it noted.
The EU and its 27 Member States not only have obligations as High Contracting Parties of the Geneva Conventions to ensure respect for these conventions, but they also must adhere to EU treaty obligations.
"In particular, they must respect Article 11 of the Treaty on the European Union, which establishes the consolidation of the rule of law and the respect for human rights as one of EU's foreign policy objectives," stressed the statement.
"Despite the EU's key role as member of the Quartet in mediating the peace-process, since the signing of the Oslo Agreements, the EU has too often adopted a discourse and practice, which effectively sacrifices human rights and international law for the sake of advancing a non-existing peace process," it added.
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