Thursday criticized an Israeli report into the
2006 Lebanon war, saying it had failed to address
major issues, including war crimes committed by its soldiers.
The Winograd Commission report published
Wednesday was "deeply flawed"
and didn't probe government policies and
military strategies that didn't discriminate
between Hezbollah fighters and Lebanese civilians,
Amnesty said.
Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa program
director, Malcolm Smart, said the study was
"another missed opportunity to address the
policies and decisions behind the grave violations
of international humanitarian law - including war crimes -
committed by Israeli forces".
"The indiscriminate killings of many Lebanese civilians
not involved in the hostilities and the deliberate and
wanton destruction of civilian properties and
infrastructure on a massive scale were given no
more than token consideration by the commission,"
he added.
The long-awaited report said the 34-day war was a
"serious missed opportunity" for the Jewish state while
there were "serious failings and flaws" in military and
political strategy.
But it spared Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from
particular criticism, saying he acted in what he
sincerely believed to be the country's best interest.
Amnesty said there was "no serious attempt"
to probe violations of humanitarian law or recommend
prosecutions for perpetrators.
The London-based human rights group has previously
accused both sides of war crimes for deliberately targeting
civilians and "indiscriminate and disproportionate"
attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Thursday it recommended Israel set up an
independent inquiry into its soldiers' actions and
a ban on cluster bombs, as well as helping the
clean-up operation by providing data about
where they were fired.
Hezbollah should "renounce its unlawful policy"
of reprisal rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and
ensure its fighters distinguish themselves from
civilians as much as possible, it added.
The two Israeli soldiers whose kidnap was a
spark for the conflict should be treated humanely
at all times and have access to the Red Cross, it said.
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