INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEMOCRATIC LAWYERS (IADL)
Office of the President
17 Lawyers Chamber, Supreme Court, New Delhi 110001 , India

Emergency Conference on the Deteriorating Situation in the
Middle East and International Law

PARIS 26-27 AUGUST,2006

Declaration and Programme of Action

The Emergency International Conference on the Deteriorating Situation in the Middle East and International Law was held at Paris on 26th and 27th August 2006. The Conference was convened by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) in cooperation with the Arab Lawyers Union (ALU) and was attended by over 60 prominent lawyers and jurists from 16 countries from four continents representing many Bar Associations, jurists organizations and human rights organizations. The Conference was unanimously of the view that the aggression by Israeli armed forces and its allies on Gaza and the Lebanese territories and the ensuing occupation, constitute grave violations of the inviolable rules of international law and international humanitarian law as enshrined in the Hague conventions of 1907, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Protocol No. 1, the United Nations Charter , the Convention on Genocide of 1948 and the Rome Statute.

The Conference unreservedly condemned Israel's violations of international law and crimes against humanity which have been manifested by its aggression against and occupation of Lebanese Territories and Gaza, and its continued occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

To address these violations and confirm our commitment to the rights of people to live in peace, the Conference resolved to take all necessary actions where possible to do the following:

1.Seek Comprehensive Peace for the Region :

The current deteriorating conditions would best be addressed by a comprehensive peace plan which would bring stability to the region and provide mechanisms to bring to justice those who have committed violations of law so that states and individuals will not have violated the law with impunity. Such peace plan must include the withdrawal of foreign forces from occupied territories and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State. Peace must be based on fundamental principles of the UN Charter, and on the basis of the UN Resolutions which have been passed over the years.
The Conference urged that the participants may use their good offices to encourage the parties to resume the peace process in order that a just peace is achieved.
It was resolved that a Committee will be constituted by the IADL in consultation with the Arab Lawyers Union and other cooperating organizations to implement this recommendation.

2.Prosecution of those Responsible for Violations of Law:

In recognition that Article 50 of the First Geneva Convention, Article 51 of the Second Geneva Convention and Article 86 of Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions require action to suppress grave breaches of the Conventions through criminal prosecution of individuals, whether civilian or military, regardless of rank, for committing breaches of the convention or protocols, the Conference resolved to take steps to seek such prosecutions.
The Conference is however conscious, that prosecution under the Rome Statute is not available as neither Lebanon nor Israel has ratified the Rome Statute. Nonetheless, the Conference calls for the creation of an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal on Israel. As the Conference is further conscious of the fact that creation of such a Tribunal will be blocked in the Security Council by an illegal use of the veto by the United States and the United Kingdom, the Conference urges the General Assembly to establish the tribunal by acting under Articles 20 and 22 of the Charter.
Investigation will have to be conducted to support any prosecutions and while many groups may be sending delegations to Lebanon, there is a need for delegations which are designed to preserve evidence or conduct forensic investigations. It is especially requested that groups such as the Red Crescent and the ICRC should take steps to collect and preserve this evidence. The Conference is mindful that Article 90 of Protocol I allows the parties to seek the services of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC), to investigate incidents if they are signatories to the Protocol, and they may make a declaration under Article .02390(2)(a) to ratify the Protocol. The Conference urges the State of Lebanon to take the necessary steps to ensure that this matter is investigated and dealt with promptly.
The Conference urged IADL and the ALU to constitute and send a fact finding mission to Lebanon as soon as possible, to conduct an investigation.
The Conference further resolved that a Committee may be established by the IADL and the Arab Lawyers Union working with other cooperating organizations to implement the above programme. IADL has also been urged to study how to solve the problem of the illegal use of the veto to prevent the implementation of UN principles.

3.Claims Based on Exercise of Universal Jurisdiction:

The Conference recognizes that Israel will not prosecute any of its leaders for any of its violations of law (even though obligated to do so) , the principle of universal jurisdiction provides every state with jurisdiction over a limited category of offenses generally recognized as of universal concern, regardless of where the offense occurred, the nationality of the perpetrator, or the nationality of the victim. While other bases of jurisdiction require connections between the prosecuting state and the offense, the perpetrator, or the victim, the universality principle assumes that every state has a sufficient interest in exercising jurisdiction to combat egregious offenses that states universally have condemned.
The Conference was assured that IADL will work with the Arab Lawyers Union, and other organizations including the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Associations, to promote these types of claims along with the work undertaken by the Arab Centre for Documentation and War Crimes Prosecution of the Arab Lawyers Union.

4.Seeking Compensation from Israel to Pay damages for its actions.

The Conference recognizes that Customary International Law, the Geneva Conventions and Article 91 of Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions , requires each party to the conflict to be responsible for all acts committed by persons forming part of its armed forces. Thus, a party to a conflict which violates the provisions of the Conventions or the Protocol shall be liable to pay compensation.
To work in this direction it was resolved that a Committee may be established by the IADL working with the Arab Lawyers Union and other cooperating organizations to implement this resolution.

5.Seeking Damages from the Aiders and Abettors

The laws of war recognize that persons who aid and abet the violations of war crimes are liable to the victims for damages. In the United States, claims against arms manufacturers who know that the arms provided are going to be used for purposes which violate international law are just being mounted. In the United Kingdom, lawyers are investigating possibilities for bringing cases against those who caused and permitted US arms supply flights to the Israeli Defence Forces to land and refuel at UK airports. There is currently a case pending in Court against the chemical companies which manufactured and provided the US government with the Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War which contained the poison dioxin, and which is continuing to poison the population. These claims are based on the Alien Tort Claims Act. There may be these and other types of claims which may be brought.
IADL undertook to work with lawyers in the US. UK and elsewhere and form a committee to file such cases wherever possible.

6.Join Campaigns to Place Pressure on Israel to Comply with the Law:

There currently are many international campaigns calling for disinvestment and other sanctions against Israel, as well as a campaign to require Israel to comply with the ICJ ruling on the Apartheid Wall, as well as to free Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners.
There are also "Tribunals of Conscience"/ "Peoples Tribunals" which are being organized by various groups in various countries to try Israel for its crimes in the court of public opinion.
The Conference resolved that IADL will join and encourages all of its affiliates to join with these campaigns to put pressure on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law.
The Conference urged IADL, ALU, all of their affiliates and supporting organizations to work together to build strong public opinion amongst the lawyers and the people to exert pressure on their respective governments to support all aspects of this Programme of Action.