UN Human Rights Council prepares to vote on Gaza war crimes report

UN Human Rights Council prepares to vote on Gaza war crimes reportGeneva - The United Nations Human Rights Council was set Friday to vote on the war crimes report of Justice Richard Goldstone regarding the conflict in and around the Gaza Strip last December and January.

A last-minute attempt by France to delay the vote on a draft resolution tabled by the Palestinians was rejected by other council members.

The report, written by Goldstone, a South African war crimes prosecutor, and three other international experts, concluded that both Israel and the Hamas movement likely committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity during their three weeks of fighting.

Israel has said it was a "biased and flawed report" and adopting it would be "a reward for terror" as it was acting in self defence in Gaza.

Also, Israeli officials have said that if the UN pursued the report it would harm the peace process, though Palestinians have countered that the talks are stalled.

The Goldstone report said each party should investigate itself in an objective and independent manner or the case should be handed over to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Israel used disproportionate force and deliberately harmed Palestinian civilians while Hamas fired rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilians, the report found.

The Palestinian draft resolution calls for the adoption of the Goldstone report, along with condemnation of Israel for its refusal to cooperate with the fact-finding mission.

In a last-minute change, the Palestinians also threw in language slamming Israel for the recent tensions in Jerusalem.

The United States, which joined the council earlier this year, said it would vote against the resolution, and has called the report "deeply flawed" while urging Israel and the other parties to investigate themselves.

Israel has said it has already launched investigation.

Some European Union members have already said they would abstain from voting. African, Arab and most Latin American states on the 47- member human rights body are expected to vote in favour of the resolution, though some might express reservations.

During the fighting in Gaza, 1,400 Palestinians were killed, mostly civilians, the report said, while Israel suffered the deaths of three civilians and 10 soldiers.(dpa)