Inter armes judices non silent: het Israëlisch Hooggerechtshof en de bezette Palestijnse Gebieden

Sabrien

Rezkallah

Inter armes judices non silent: het Israëlisch Hooggerechtshof en de bezette Palestijnse Gebieden

De Romeinse redenaar Cicero zei ooit dat inter arma enim silent leges, dat in tijden van oorlog de wetten zwijgen. Deze rechtspreuk gaat echter allang niet meer op. Tijdens gewapende conflicten gelden er wel degelijk regels, enerzijds gericht op het gedrag van de oorlogvoerende partijen, anderzijds gericht op de bescherming van burgers. Daar heeft de ontwikkeling van het internationaal recht der gewapende conflicten en het internationaal bezettingsrecht voor gezorgd.

Maar wat met de judices, de rechters van de oorlogvoerende partijen en bezettende machten? Blijven zij stil te midden van het wapengekletter? En zo niet, welk geluid maken zij?

Deze vraagstelling is in se het vertrekpunt van mijn onderzoek.

Het enige conflict waarin deze vraag een antwoord krijgt, is het zogenaamde ‘Israëlisch-Palestijns conflict’.

Dit conflict is als zodanig een ‘retorisch’ conflict, dat betrekking heeft op het breed spectrum van inherent conflicterende belangen tussen Israëli’s enerzijds en Palestijnen anderzijds op het grondgebied dat algemeen bekendstaat als ‘Palestina’.

In 1948 werd op dit grondgebied de staat Israël uitgeroepen. In 1967 bezette Israël, in het kader van de Zesdaagse oorlog met buurlanden Jordanië en Egypte, de Arabische delen van dit gebied, de Westelijke Jordaanoever en de Gazastrook.

Het Israëlisch Hooggerechtshof, het hoogste rechtscollege van Israël, oefent sinds het begin van deze bezetting rechterlijke controle uit over de handelingen van het Israëlisch leger die ze in het kader van deze militaire administratie stelt. Het is in deze context dat het Hof uitspraak over het internationaal bezettingsrecht.

In loop der jaren is het Israëlisch-Palestijns conflict getransformeerd van een ‘louter’ retorisch conflict naar een ‘echt’ gewapend conflict in de zin van het recht der gewapende conflicten.

De Israëlische bezetting van de Westbank en Gaza kende twee culminaties van geweld uitgaande van de Palestijnse bevolking tegen het Israëlisch leger als uiting van protest tegen diens jarenlange militaire aanwezigheid. Deze opstanden staan bekend als de twee Palestijnse intifada’s en hebben de dynamiek in de Palestijnse Gebieden grondig veranderd.

Oorspronkelijk kenmerkte de Israelische bezetting van Palestina zich door de verticale relatie tussen de Israëlische bezettende macht en de Palestijnse bezette bevolking. Bij het uitbreken van de eerste intifada veranderde deze verticale relatie gedeeltelijk in een assymetrische horizontale relatie tussen een bezettende macht en leden van de bezette bevolking die moedwillig de wapens tegen deze eerste opnamen.

Sinds de tweede intifada en het overnemen van de feitelijke controle over de Gazastrook door de Palestijnse gewapende groep Hamas doet het Hof dan ook, naast het bezettingsrecht, uitspraak over de toepassing van het recht van de gewapende conflicten.

Bibliografie

Boeken

PICTET, J., The Geneva Conventions of 1949: Commentary, Genève, ICRC, 1958.

ZIMMERMAN, B., et al., Commentary on the Additional Protocols: of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Genève, 1987.

BIANCHI, A. en NAQVI, Y., International Humanitarian Law and Terrorism, Hart Publishing, 2011, 403.

DINSTEIN, Y., The International Law of Belligerent Occupation, Cambridge University Press, 2009, 303.

DINSTEIN, Y., War, Agression and Self-Defence, Cambridge University Press, 2011, 375.

KRETZMER, D., The Occupation of Justice, State University of New York Press, 2002, 262.

BENVENISTI, E., The International Law of Occupation, Oxford University Press, 2013, 383.

LUBELL, N., Extraterritorial Use of Force Against Non-State Actors, Oxford University Press, 2010, 288.

Artikelen

MERON, T., “Customary Law” in R. Gutman and D. Rieff (eds.), Crimes of War: What the Public should Know, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1999, 111-115.

BEN-NAFTALI, O., “PathoLAWgical Occupation: Normalizing the Exceptional Case of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Other Legal Pathologies” in BEN-NAFTALI, O. (ed.),International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law, Oxford University Press, 2011, 424, 129-200.

MILANOVIC, M. en HADZI-VIDANOVIC, M., “A Taxonomy of Armed Conflict” in WHITE, N. en HENDERSON, C. (eds.), Research Handbook on International and Security Law, Edward Elgar, 2012, 685, 256-313.

AKANDE, D., “Classification of Armed Conflicts: Relevant Legal Concepts” in WILMSHURST, E. (ed.), International Law and the Classification of Conflicts, Oxford University Press, 2012, 531, 32-70.

SCOBBIE, I., “Gaza” in WILMSHURST, E. (ed.), International Law and the Classification of Conflicts? Oxford University Press, 2012, 531, 280-316.

PEJIC, J., “Conflict Classification and the Law Applicable to Detention and the Use of Force”, in WILMSHURST, E. (ed.), International Law and the Classification of Conflicts? Oxford University Press, 2012, 531, 80-116.

QUPTY, M., “The Application of International Law in the Occupied Territories as Reflected in the Judgements of the High Court of Justice in Israel” in PLAYFAIR, E. (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories: Two Decades of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Clarendon. Oxford, 1992, 576, 87-125.

BENVENISTI, E., “Occupation, Belligerent” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.),MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 920-929.

HEINTSCHEL VON HEINEGG, W., “Assymetric Warfare” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol.I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 725-734.

HEINTSCHEL VON HEINEGG, W., “War Zones” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X,Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 763-771.

GLAZIER, D., “Wars of National Liberation” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 781-785.

CRAWFORD, E., “Armed Conflict, international” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X,Oxford University Pres, 2012, 11724, 612-626.

MARAUHN, T. en NTOUBANDI, Z., “Armed Conflict, non-international” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.),MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 627-636.

WALTER, C., “Terrorism” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 908-928.

SASSOLI, M., “Combatants” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 350-360.

DORMANN, K., “Combatants, unlawful” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 360-369.

FROWEIN, J., “De Facto Regime” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 1052-1054.

GREENWOOD, C., “Self-Defence” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 103-113.

DORR, O., “Use of Force, Prohibition of” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 607-620.

ZEMANEK, K. “Armed Attack” in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X, Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 595-600.

BELL, C. en PFEIFFER, J., “Indiscriminate Attack in WOLFRUM, R. (ed.), MPEPIL, Vol. I-X,Oxford University Press, 2012, 11724, 137-141.

HOFFMANN, T., “Is the Gaza Strip still an Occupied Territory? Divergent Approaches in International Humanitarian Law” in GABOR K. en GABOR, K. (eds.), Nemzetkozi Jog es Europai Jog: Uj Metszespontok?, Saxum, 2011, 28-44.

PAULUS, A. en VASHAKMADZE, M., “Assymetrical War and the Notion of Armed Conflict – A Tentative Conceptualization”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 91(873), 2009, 95-125.

RAGUAN, G., “Adjudicating Armed Conflict in Domestic Courts: The Experience of Israel’s Supreme Court”, in SCHMITT, M. et al. (eds), Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 13, 2010, 61-95.

VAN DER VYVER, J., “Legal Ramifications of the War in Gaza”, Florida Journal of International Law, Vol. 21(3), 2009, 403-448.

KRETZMER, D., “Targeted killing of Suspected Terrorists: Extra-Judicial execuions or Legitimate Means of Defence?”, The European Journal of International Law, Vol. 16(2), 2005, 171-212.

MOODRICK EVEN-KHEN, H., “Case Note: Can We Now Tell What “Direct Participation in Hostilities” is? – HCJ 769/02 The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel v. the Government of Israel”, Israel Law Review, Vol. 40(1), 2007, 213-244.

ZIMMERMAN, A., “Abiding by and Enforcing International Humanitarian Law in Assymetric Warfare: the Case of “Operation Cast Lead”, Polish Yearbook of International Law, 2011, 47-78.

VITE, S., “Typologie of Armed Conflicts in International Humanitarian Law: legal concepts and actual situations”, International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 91(873), 69-94.

MASTORODIMOS, K., “The Character of the Conflict in Gaza: Another Argument towards Abolishing the Distinction between International and Non-international Armed Conflicts?”International Community Law Review, Vol. 12(4), 2010, 437-469.

RADIN, S., “Global Armed Conflict? The Threshold of Extraterritorial Non-international Armed Conflicts”, Naval War College International Law Studies, Vol. 89, 2013, 696-743.

MILANOVIC, M., “Lessons for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the War on Terror: Comparing Hamdan and the Israeli Targeted Killings Case”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 89(866), 2007, 373-393.

RUBIN, B., “Disengagement from the Gaza Strip and Post-Occupation Duties”, Israel Law Review, Vol. 42(3), 2010, 528-536.

DARCY, S. en REYNOLDS, J., “An Enduring Occupation : The Status of the Gaza Strip from the Perspective of international Humanitarian Law”, Journal of Conflict & Security Law, Vol. 15(2),2010, 211-243.

SHANY, Y., “The Law Applicable to Non-Occupied Gaza: A Comment on Bassiouni v. Prime Minister of Israel”, Hebrew University International Law, 1-18, beschikbaar op SSRN:http://ssrn.com/abstract=1350307.

FERRARO, T., “Determining the Beginning and End of an Occupation under International Humanitarian Law”, International Law Review of the Red Cross, Vol.94(885), 2012, 133-162.

GOFF, R., “The Legality of Israel’s Blockade of Gaza”, Regent Journal of International Law, Vol. 8, 2012, 83-108.

POWER, S., “War, Invasion, Occupation? A Problem of Status on the Gaza Strip”, Trinity College Law Review, Vol.12, 2009, 25-39.

CAPLAN, R., “Rules of “Disengagement”: Relating the Establishment of Palestinian Gaza”,Florida Journal of International Law, Vol. 18, 2005, 679-716.

SHANY, Y., “Faraway So Close: The Legal Status of Gaza after Israel’s Disengagement”,Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, Vol.8, 2006, 1-34, beschikbaar op SSRN:http://ssrn.com/abstract=923151.

SHANY, Y., “Binary Law Meets Complex Reality: the Occupation of Gaza Debate”, Israel Law Review, Vol. 41(1-2), 2008, 68-86.

STEPHANOPOULOS, N., “Israel’s Legal Obligations to Gaza after the Pullout”, Yale Journal of International Law, Vol. 31, 2006, 524-529.

IONNANIS, K., “The Continuance and End of an Occupation”, 2011, beschikbaar op SSRN:http://ssrn.com/abstract=1963672.

BELL, A. en SHEFI, D., “The Mythical Post-2005 Israeli Occupation of the Gaza Strip”, Israel Affairs, Vol. 16(2), 2010, 268-296.

WEILL, S., “The Judicial arm of the Occupation: the Israeli Military Courts in the Occupied Territories”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 89(866), 2007, 395-419.

SOLOMON, S., “The Great Oxymoron: Jus in Bello Violations as Legitimate Non-Forcible Measures of Self-Defense”, Chinese Journal of International Law, Vol. 9, 2010, 501-536.

SOLOMON, S., “Occupied or Not: The Question of Gaza’s Legal Status after the Israeli Disengagement”, Cardozo Journal of International & Comparative Law, Vol. 19, 2011, 59-89.

SCHONDORF, R., “The Targeted Killings Judgement, a Preliminary Assessment”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, Vol. 5(2), 2007, 301-309.

MALANCZUK, P., “Some Basic aspects of the Agreements Between Israël and the PLO from the Perspective of International Law”, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 7, 1996, 485-500.

BENVENISTI, E., “Responsibility for the Protection of Human Rights under the Interim Israeli-Palestinian Agreements”, Israel Law Review, Vol. 28, 1994, 297-317.

CAVANAUGH, K., “Selective Justice: The Case of Israel and the Occupied Territories”, Fordham International Law Journal, Vol. 26(4), 2002, 934-960.

JAMES, C., “Mere Words: The ‘Enemy Entity’ Designation of the Gaza Strip”, Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, Vol. 32, 2009, 643-668.

ZEMACH, A., “Taking War Seriously: Applying the Law of War to Hostilities Within an Occupied Territory”, George Washington International Law Review, Vol. 38, 2006, 645-695.

ZEMACH, A., “The Unpleasant Responsibilities of International Human Rights Law”, Denver Journal of International Law & Policy, Vol. 38, 2010, 421-459.

RUDMAN, M. en QUPTY, M., “The Emergency Powers (Detention) Law: Israel’s Courts Have a Mission – Should They Choose to Accept it?”, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 21,1990, 469-513.

ROBERTS, A., “What is a Military Occupation?”, British Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 55(1), 1984, 249-305.

ROBERTS, A., “Prolonged Military Occupation: the Israeli-Occupied Territories since 1967”,American Journal of International Law, Vol. 84, 1990, 44-103.

BEN-NAFTALI, O., GROSS, A., MICHAELI, K., “Illegal Occupation: Framing the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, Berkeley Journal of International Law, Vol. 23(3), 2005, 551-614.

COHEN, E., “Justice for Occupied Territory? The Israeli High Court of Justice Paradigm”,Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 24, 1986, 471-507.

KRETZMER, D., “The Law of Belligerent Occupation in the Supreme Court of Israel”,International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 94(885), 2012, 207-236.

A. YUKATA, The Law of Occupation: Continuity and Change of International Humanitarian Law, and its Interaction with International Human Rights Law, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2009, 47.

SCHMITT, M., “Military Necessity and Humanity in International Humanitarian Law: Preserving the Delicate Balance” Virginia Journal of International Law, Vol. 50(4), 2010, 795-839.

WATKIN, K., “Use of Force During Occupation: Law Enforcement and Conduct of Hostilities”,International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 94(885), 2012, 267-315.

BOTHE, M., ZWANENBURG, M., SASSOLI, M., “Is the Law of Belligerent Occupation applicable to the invasion phase?”, International Law Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 94(885),2012, 30-50.

MÜNKLER, H., “The wars of the 21st century”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 85(849), 2003, 7-22.

Diverse

Policy Brief, Review of the Applicability of International Humanitarian Law to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, juli 2004, Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, International Humanitarian Law Research Initiative, 15., beschikbaar ophttp://web.stanford.edu/group/scai/images/harvardreview.pdf.

ICRC Opinion Paper, How is the Term “Armed Conflict” Defined in International Humanitarian Law?, maart 2008, beschikbaar ophttp://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/article/other/armed-conflict-article-170308.htm.

Background Paper for the JCPA Conference of June 2009: Accountability of Hamas under International Humanitarian Law, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 16 juni 2009, beschikbaar op http://jcpa.org/article/accountability-of-the-hamas-under-international-humanitarian-la/.

Policy Brief, The Implications of Bassiouni v. Prime Minister for Humanitarian Professionals in Gaza, augustus, Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, Harvard University, augustus 2010, 12, beschikbaar ophttp://www.hpcrresearch.org/sites/default/files/publications/The%20Implications%20of%20Bassiouni%20v.%20Prime%20Minister%20for%20Humanitarian%20Professionals%20in%20Gaza%20--%20August%202010_0.pdf.

Briefing: Israeli High Court Decision Authorizing Fuel and Electricity Cuts to Gaza (HCJ 9132/07, issued January 30, 2008, Ghisha Legal Center for Human Rights, 31 januari 2008, 7, beschikbaar ophttp://www.gisha.org/UserFiles/File/publications_english/Publications%20and%20Reports_English/Gisha-Preliminary%20Analysis%20Fuel-Electricity%20Decision-final.doc.

The Israeli High Court of Justice and the Palestinian Intifada: a stamp of approval for Israeli violations in the Occupied Territories, Al Haq, 2004, 113.

Al Haq’s Questions and Answers: Palestine’s UN Initiatives and the Representation of the Palestinian People’s Rights, Al Haq, 15 september 2011, 12.

Rechtspraak

Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,Advisory Opinion, ICJ, 9 juli 2004, www.icj-cij.org.

Prosecutor v. Tadić, Case No. IT-94-1, Decision on the Defense Motion for Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction, ICTY Appeals Chamber, 2 oktober 1995.

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, United States Supreme Court, 126 S. Ct. 2749 26 juni 2006.

Public Committee against Torture v State of Israel, HCJ 769/02, 14 december 2006.

Jaber Ahmed Al Bassiouni, HCJ 27 januari 2008.

Physicians for Human Rights, HCJ 201/09 en HCJ 248/09, 19 januari 2002.

Verdragen

Verdrag nopens de wetten en gebruiken van de oorlog te land, 18 oktober 1907.

Reglement betreffende de wetten en gebruiken van de oorlog te land, 18 oktober 1907.

Wetten

Israel Basic Law: The Judiciary (1984), www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic_eng.htm

Andere

Security Cabinet Declares Gaza Hostile Territory, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 19 september 2007, beschikbaar ophttp://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/pressroom/2007/pages/security%20cabinet%20declares%20gaza%20hostile%20territory%2019-sep-2007.aspx.

The Operation in Gaza: Factual and Legal Aspects of, Israeli Defence Forces, juli 2009, beschikbaar ophttp://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/terrorism/palestinian/pages/operation_in_gaza-factual_and_legal_aspects.aspx

Sharm El Sheikh Fact Finding Commission, George J. Mitchell et al., 30 April 2001.

Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, Special Committee to Investigate Israel Practices, 26 August 1988.

Decision on the Revised Disengagement Plan, Government of Israel, 6 juni 2004, beschikbaar ophttp://www/mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Reference+Documents/Revised+Disengagement+Plan+6-June-2004.htm.