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Ban Ki-moon meets with Mr Richard Goldstone
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On 18 August 2010, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, released his second report to follow-up on the implementation of the ‘Goldstone report’ into the 2008-09 Gaza conflict. After granting the Israeli Government and the ‘Palestinian side’ a further five months to conduct ‘independent' and ‘credible’ investigations into the violations of international humanitarian and human rights law that were alleged, the Secretary-General forwarded the General Assembly almost 250 pages of material. However, despite this extension of time, the Secretary-General again avoided any analysis or evaluation of the evidence from the two parties, and simply annexed it to his two page introduction.
What is significant in the Secretary-General’s second report, is his message to the General Assembly that it should look to the Human Rights Council to answer the tough questions about how to follow-up on the Goldstone report. The Secretary-General explained that the appropriate body to assess the ‘independence, effectiveness and genuineness’ of the investigations by both parties, and to judge whether they conform with international standards, was the ‘committee of independent experts’ the Council established at its March session with this precise mandate (resolution 13/9). The clear sub-text was that the Secretary-General would not be commenting on these matters, despite two requests from the General Assembly to ‘report’ on progress on the investigations and to advise on whether ‘further action’ by the UN, including the Security Council, might be necessary.
It remains to be seen whether members of the General Assembly will be so keen to delegate responsibility for answering these contentious political questions to the Human Rights Council. Should the General Assembly wish to remain at the forefront of these matters, the option remains for members to call for a debate on the Secretary-General’s report, and/or to initiate a new resolution on the matter. However, only a small window of time remains to consider what if any action should occur in the General Assembly, as a series of key follow-up reports on the Goldstone report will be under consideration at the Council’s 15th session, commencing 13 September 2010. These include:
- First report from the Human Rights Council's committee of independent experts;
- Secretary-General’s second comprehensive report on the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations of the Goldstone report (as per Council resolution S-12/1B); and
- High Commissioner’s report on the implementation of Council resolution 13/9.
ISHR will publish news stories on the key developments during the Council’s 15th session, and afterwards will publish an analytical overview of the session in our Human Rights Monitor Quarterly.
Further background information from ISHR on the General Assembly's first (64/10) and second (64/254) resolutions in response to the Goldstone report is available from our General Assembly news archive.
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