CONCLUSIONS OF THE RUSSELL TRIBUNAL

ON PALESTINE
First session in Barcelona
1-3 March 2010

These are the conclusions of the Jury pertaining to the Barcelona session
of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. However, the contents are subject to
the normal processes of editing and corrections before a definitive edition
is made public.

1. Meeting in Barclona from 1 to 3 March 2010, the Russell Tribunal on

Palestine (hereinafter “the RTP”), composed of the following members:
• Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace laureate 1976, Northern
Ireland
• Gisèle Halimi, lawyer, former Ambassador to UNESCO, France
• Ronald Kasrils writer and activist, South Africa
• Michael Mansfield, barrister, President of the Haldane Society of
Socialist Lawyers, United Kingdom
• José Antonio Martin Pallin, emeritus judge, Chamber II, Supreme
Court, Spain
• Cynthia McKinney, former member of the US Congress and 2008
presidential candidate, Green Party, USA
• Alberto San Juan, actor, Spain
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• Aminata Traoré, author and former Minister of Culture of Mali

adopted these conclusions, which cover the following points:
- Establishment of the Tribunal (I.)
- Mandate of the RTP (II.)
- Procedure (III.)
- Admissibility (IV.)
- Merits (V.)
- Continuation of the proceedings (VI.)

I. Establishment of the Tribunal

2. The RTP is an international citizen-based Tribunal of conscience

created in response to the demands of civil society. With the passage of
time in recent years, especially since the failure to implement the Advisory
Opinion of 9 July 2004 of the International Court of Justice concerning the
construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the
adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of resolution ES-10/15
on 20 July 2004 concerning the application of the Opinion, and in response
to the major escalation that followed the attack on Gaza (December 2008
– January 2009), committees have been created in different countries to
promote and sustain a citizen’s initiative in support of the rights of the
Palestinian people.

3. The RTP is imbued with the same spirit and espouses the same
rigorous rules as those inherited from the Tribunal on Vietnam created by
the eminent scholar and philosopher Bertrand Russell on Vietnam (1966-
1967) and the Russell Tribunal II on Latin America (1974-1976) organized
by the Lelio Basso International Foundation for the right and liberation of
peoples.

4. Its members include Nobel Prize laureates, a former United Nations

Secretary-General, a former United Nations Under-Secretary-General, two
former heads of state, other persons who held high political office and
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many representatives of civil society, writers, journalists, poets, actors,

film directors, scientists, professors, lawyers and judges (annex …).

5. Public international law constitutes the legal frame of reference for

the RTP.

6. The RTP proceedings will comprise a number of sessions. The

Tribunal held its first session on 1, 2 and 3 March in Barcelona. It was
hosted and supported by the Barcelona National Support Committee and
the Office of the Mayor of Barcelona, under the honorary presidency of
Stéphane Hessel.

II. The mandate of the RTP

7. The RTP takes it as an established fact that some aspects of Israel’s

behaviour have already been characterized as violations of international
law by a number of international bodies, including the Security Council,
the General Assembly and the ICJ (infra § 17). The question referred to the
first session of the RTP by the Organising Committee is whether the
relations of the EU and its member states with Israel are wrongful acts
within the meaning of international law and, if so, what the practical
implications are and what means may be used to remedy them.

8. At this session, the RTP will focus on the following six questions:
- the principle of respect for the right of the Palestinian people to self-
determination;
- the settlements and the plundering of natural resources;
- the annexation of East Jerusalem;
- the blockade of Gaza and operation “Cast Lead”;
- the construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
- the European Union/Israel Association Agreement.

III. Procedure
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9. The Organising Committee submitted the aforementioned questions

experts who had been selected on the basis of their familiarity with the
facts of the situation.

With a view to respecting the adversarial principle, the questions were

also submitted to the EU and its member states so that they could express
their opinion.

The experts submitted written reports to the Tribunal.

10. In the case of the EU, the President of the Commission, Mr. Barroso,
wrote a letter to the RTP which arrived during the first session of the
Tribunal. President Barroso referred to the conclusions adopted by the
Council of Ministers of Foreign affairs on 8 December 2009 (annex A).

11. Only one of the member states of the EU responded to the Tribunal’s
request. In a letter dated 15 February 2010, Germany drew attention, like
President Barroso (see above), to the Council conclusions of December
2009 (annex B).

12. While the RTP takes note of these letters, it regrets that the other
member countries of the EU and the EU itself have proved reticent in
presenting their arguments concerning the issues that are being
addressed at this first session and that the RTP was unable to benefit from
the assistance that their arguments and supporting evidence might have
provided.

13. The written stage of the proceedings was followed by an oral stage
during which statements by the nine experts introduced by the Organising
Committee were heard by the members of the Tribunal. The following
experts were heard:
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Madjid Benchikh (Algeria) - Professor of Public International Law at the

University of Cergy
Pontoise and former dean at the Law Faculty of Algiers
Agnes Bertrand (Belgium) - researcher and Middle East specialist with
APRODEV
David Bondia (Spain) - Professor of Public International Law and
International Relations at the
University of Barcelona
François Dubuisson (Belgium) - Law Professor at the Free University of
Brussels
Patrice Bouveret (France) - President of the Armaments Observatory
James Phillips (Ireland) – Lawyer
Michael Sfard (Israel) - Lawyer
Phil Shiner (United Kingdom) -lawyer
Derek Summerfield (United Kingdom) - honorary senior lecturer at
London's Institute of
Psychiatry

14. Having listened to their reports, the Tribunal heard the following
witnesses, who were also designated by the Organising Committee:
Veronique DeKeyser (Belgium) - Member of the European Parliament
Ewa Jasiewicz (United Kingdom) - Journalist and eyewitness of Operation
Cast Lead
Ghada Karmi (Palestine) Author and physician
Meir Margalit (Israel) Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and
member of the Jerusalem City Council
Daragh Murray – legal advisor at PCHR in place of Rafi Sourani; the RTP
expresses grave concern that the witness invited by it, Raji Sourani,
Director of PCHR, was unable to attend due to the fact that as part of the
general blockade of Gaza and the closure of the Erez and Rafah border
crossings, he has not been allowed by Israel or Egypt to leave Gaza;
Raul Romeva (Spain) -Member of the European Parliament
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Clare Short (United Kingdom) -Member of Parliament and former Secretary

of State for
International Development
Desmond Travers (Ireland) - retired Colonel and member of the UN fact-
finding mission that produced the Goldstone report
Francis Wurtz (France) - former member of the European Parliament

15. The procedure followed by the RTP is neither that of the ICJ nor that
of a domestic or international criminal court but is based on the
methodology applicable by any judicial body in terms of the independence
and impartiality of its members.

IV. Admissibility

16. In considering the relations of the EU and its member states with
Israel, the RTP will rule on a number of alleged violations of international
law by Israel. Israel’s absence from the present proceedings is not an
impediment to the admissibility of the expert reports on the violations. In
passing judgment on violations of international law allegedly committed
by a state that is not represented before the Tribunal, the RTP is not
breaching the rule of mutual agreement among the parties that is
applicable before international judicial bodies responsible for the
settlement of disputes between states (see the Monetary Gold and East
Timor cases, ICJ Reports, 1954 and 1995).. The work of this body is not
comparable to that involved in a dispute referred, for instance, to the ICJ:
the facts presented as violations of international law committed by Israel
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory have been characterized as such by
the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council and also by
a number of reports, such as those of the Special Committee to
Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian
People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. Hence, at this stage
the Tribunal will simply draw attention to circumstances that are already
widely recognized by the international community.
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V. The merits

17. In these conclusions the RTP has used, depending on the context,
the terms Palestine, occupied, Palestinian territories, Palestinian territory,
Occupied Palestinian Territory and Palestinian people without prejudice to
the judgment that will be rendered at the final session.
18. The conclusions of the RTP will deal in turn with:
- violations of international law committed by Israel (A.)
- breaches by the EU and its member states of certain specific rules of
international law (B.)
- breaches by the EU and its member states of certain general rules of
international law (C.)
- failure by the EU and its member states to take measures against
the violations of international law committed by Israel and to identify
what remedies may be available (D.)

A. Violations of international law committed by Israel

19. Having taken note of the experts’ reports and having heard the
witnesses summoned by the latter, the RTP finds that Israel has
committed and continues to commit grave breaches of international law
against the Palestinian people. In the view of the RTP, Israel violates
international law by the conduct described below:

19.1 by maintaining a form of domination and subjugation over the

Palestinians that prevents them from freely determining their
political status, Israel violates the right of the Palestinian people to
self-determination inasmuch as it is unable to exercise its
sovereignty on the territory which belongs to it; this violates the
Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries
and peoples (A/Res. 1514(XV), 14 Dec. 1960) and all UNGA
resolutions that have reaffirmed the right of the Palestinian people
 8

to self-determination since 1969 (A/Res. 2535 B (XXIV), 10 Dec.

1969, and, inter alia, A/Res. 3236 (XXIX), 22 Nov. 1974, 52/114, 12
Dec. 1997, etc);

19.2 by occupying Palestinian territories since June 1967 and refusing to

leave them, Israel violates the Security Council resolutions that
demand its withdrawal from the territories concerned (SC/Res. 242,
22 Nov. 1967; 338, 22 Oct. 1973) ;

19.3 by pursuing a policy of systematic discrimination against

Palestinians present in Israeli territory or in the occupied territories,
Israel commits acts that may be characterized as apartheid; these
acts include the following:

- closure of the borders of the Gaza Strip and restrictions on the

freedom of movement of its inhabitants;

- prevention of the return of Palestinian refugees to their home

or land of origin;

- prohibition on the free use by Palestinians of certain natural

resources such as the watercourses within their land;

19.4 given the discriminatory nature of these measures, since they are
based, inter alia, on the nationality of the persons to whom they are
applied, the RTP finds that they present features comparable to
apartheid, even though they do not emanate from an identical
political regime to that prevailing in South Africa prior to 1994; these
measures are characterized as criminal acts by the Convention on
the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid of 18 July
1976, which is not in fact binding on Israel, though this does not
exonerate Israel in that regard;
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19.5 by annexing Jerusalem in July 1980 and maintaining the annexation,

Israel violates the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force,
as stated by the Security Council (SC/Res. 478, 20 August 1980).

19.6 by constructing a Wall in the West Bank on Palestinian territory that

it occupies, Israel denies the Palestinians access to their own land,
violates their property rights and seriously restricts the freedom of
movement of the Palestinian population, thereby violating article 12
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights to which
Israel has been a party since 3 October 1991; the illegality of the
construction of the Wall was confirmed by the ICJ in its Advisory
Opinion of 9 July 2004, which was endorsed by the UNGA in its
resolution ES-10/15.

19.7 by systematically building settlements in Jerusalem and the West

Bank, Israel breaches the rules of international humanitarian law
governing occupation, in particular article 49 of the Fourth General
Convention of 12 August 1949, by which Israel has been bound since
6 July 1951. This point was noted by the ICJ in the above-mentioned
Advisory Opinion;

19.8 by pursuing a policy of targeted killings against Palestinians whom it

describes as “terrorists” without first attempting to arrest them,
Israel violates the right to life of the persons concerned, a right
enshrined in article 6 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

19.9 by maintaining a blockade on the Gaza Strip in breach of the

provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 (art.
33), which prohibits collective punishment;

19.10by inflicting extensive and serious damage, especially on persons

and civilian property, and by using prohibited methods of combat
 10

during operation “Cast Lead” in Gaza (December 2008 – January

2009).

20. While the EU and its member states are not the direct perpetrators
of these acts, they nevertheless violate international law and the internal
legal order of the EU as set down in the EU Treaty either by failing to take
the measures that Israel’s conduct requires them to take or by
contributing directly or indirectly to such conduct. The relevant provisions
of the EU treaty as per the Lisbon Treaty, (OJEU C 115/01-9 May-2008) which
came into force in January 2010 include:

“PREAMBLE

CONFIRMING their attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and

respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and of the rule of law,

Article 2

The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom,
democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights,
including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are
common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-
discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women
and men prevail.

Article 3
[…]

5. In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote
its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It
shall contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of the
Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free and fair trade,
eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the
rights of the child, as well as to the strict observance and the development
of international law, including respect for the principles of the United
Nations Charter.

Article 17
1. The Commission shall promote the general interest of the Union and
take appropriate initiatives to that end. It shall ensure the application of
the Treaties, and of measures adopted by the institutions pursuant to
them. It shall oversee the application of Union law under the control of the
Court of
 11

Justice of the European Union. It shall execute the budget and manage
programmes. It shall exercise coordinating, executive and management
functions, as laid down in the Treaties. With the exception of the common
foreign and security policy, and other cases provided for in the Treaties, it
shall ensure the Union's external representation. It shall initiate the Union's
annual and multiannual programming with a view to achieving
interinstitutional agreements.

TITLE V

GENERAL PROVISIONS ON THE UNION'S EXTERNAL ACTION AND

SPECIFIC
PROVISIONS ON THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY

CHAPTER 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS ON THE UNION'S EXTERNAL ACTION

Article 21
1. The Union's action on the international scene shall be guided by the
principles which have inspired its own creation, development and
enlargement, and which it seeks to advance in the wider world:
democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human
rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for human dignity, the principles
of equality and solidarity, and respect for the principles of the United
Nations Charter and international law. The Union shall seek to develop
relations and build partnerships with third countries, and international,
regional or global organisations which share the principles referred to in
the first subparagraph. It shall promote multilateral solutions to common
problems, in particular in the framework of the United Nations.

2. The Union shall define and pursue common policies and actions, and
shall work for a high degree of cooperation in all fields of international
relations, in order to:

(a) safeguard its values, fundamental interests, security, independence

and integrity;
(b) consolidate and support democracy, the rule of law, human rights and
the principles of international law;
(c) preserve peace, prevent conflicts and strengthen international security,
in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations
Charter, with the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and with the aims of
the Charter of Paris, including those relating to external borders;
(d) foster the sustainable economic, social and environmental development
of developing countries, with the primary aim of eradicating poverty;
(e) encourage the integration of all countries into the world economy,
including through the progressive abolition of restrictions on international
trade;
(f) help develop international measures to preserve and improve the
quality of the environment and the sustainable management of global
natural resources, in order to ensure sustainable development;
(g) assist populations, countries and regions confronting natural or man-
made disasters; and
(h) promote an international system based on stronger multilateral
cooperation and good global governance.
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3. The Union shall respect the principles and pursue the objectives set out
in paragraphs 1 and 2 in the development and implementation of the
different areas of the Union's external action covered by this Title and by
Part Five of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and of
the external aspects of its other policies.

The Union shall ensure consistency between the different areas of its
external action and between these and its other policies. The Council and
the Commission, assisted by the High Representative of the Union for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, shall ensure that consistency and shall
cooperate to that effect.
]
B. Breaches by the EU and its member states of specific
rules of international law that require the EU and its
member states to respond to violations of international
law committed by Israel

21. Certain rules of international law require the EU and its member
states to take action to prevent Israel from committing specific violations
of international law. Thus,

- with regard to the right of peoples to self-determination, the

UNGA Declaration on friendly relations (A/Res. 2625 (XXV), 24
Oct. 1970) states, as its fourth principle (2nd para.):

“Every State has the duty to promote, through joint and separate
action, realization of the principle of equal rights and self-
determination of peoples […] and to render assistance to the
United Nations in carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to it
by the Charter regarding the implementation of the principle […]”
[ICJ, Reports 2004, , § 156]

similarly, the 1966 Covenant on Civil and Political rights stipulates

that:

“The States parties […] shall promote the realization of the right
to self-determination:”
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- with regard to human rights, the same UNGA Declaration states

in the same context (4th principle, 3rd para.):

“Every State has the duty to promote through joint and separate
action universal respect for and observance of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Charter” (see also
the 5th principle, 3rd para.);

- furthermore, the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement of

20 November 1995 (OJEC L 147/1 of 21 June 2000), states that:

“Respect for democratic principles and fundamental human rights […]

shall inspire the domestic and international policies of the Parties and
shall constitute an essential element of this Agreement” (art. 2);

this provision requires the EU and its member states to ensure

that Israel respects fundamental rights and freedoms, and it
follows that by refraining to do so the EU and its member States
are violating the agreement; as shown by the CJEC in the Brita
case (CJEC, 25 February 2010), EU law is also applicable to the
EU’s relations with Israel; while the agreement also stipulates
that this does not prevent

“a Party from taking any measures […] (c) which it considers essential
to its own security in the event of serious internal disturbances
affecting the maintenance of law and order, in time of war or serious
international tension constituting threat of war or in order to carry out
obligations it has accepted for the purpose of maintaining peace and
international security” (art. 76),

the RTP does not consider that this possibility accorded to the
contracting parties can be invoked to justify the failure of the EU
and its member states to fulfil their obligation of due diligence to
ensure respect for human rights by the other party; on the
contrary, fulfilment of the obligation in question may contribute
to the maintenance of “peace and international security”;

- with regard to international humanitarian law, common article 1

of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 stipulates that “The
High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure
respect” for the Conventions, as noted by the ICJ in the Wall
case:
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“It follows from that provision that every State party to that Convention
[the fourth Geneva Convention], whether or not it is a party to a specific
conflict, is under an obligation to ensure that the requirements of the
instruments in question are complied with.” (ICJ, Reports, 2004, § 158);

The official ICRC commentary emphased the significance of common

article 1, statting as follows:

“It is.a series of unilateral engagements solemnly contracted before the

world as represented by the other Contracting Parties. Each State
contracts obligations ' vis-à-vis ' itself and at the same time ' vis-à-vis ' the
others. The motive of the Convention is such a lofty one, so universally
recognized as an imperative call of civilization, that the need is felt for its
assertion, as much out of respect for it on the part of the signatory State
itself as in the expectation of such respect from an opponent, indeed
perhaps even more for the former reason than for the latter.

The Contracting Parties do not undertake merely to respect the

Convention, but also to ' ensure respect ' for it. The wording may seem
redundant. When a State contracts an engagement, the engagement
extends eo ipso to all those over whom it has authority, as well as to the
representatives of its authority; and it is under an obligation to issue the
necessary orders. The use in all four Conventions of the words "and to
ensure respect for" was, however, deliberate: they were intended to
emphasize the responsibility of the Contracting Parties.
[….]
In view of the foregoing considerations and the fact that the provisions for
the repression of violations have been considerably strengthened, it is
clear that Article 1 is no mere empty form of words, but has been
deliberately invested with imperative force. It must be taken in its literal
meaning.”

the fact that the EU is not a party to the Geneva Conventions does
not preclude the applicability of their rules to the EU; thus, in the
aforementioned Wall case, the ICJ held that an international
 15

organization such as the United Nations, which was not a party to

the Conventions either, should take action to ensure that they were
respected; according to the Court, the UN and

“especially the General Assembly and the Security Council, should consider
what further action is required to bring to an end the illegal situation
resulting from the construction of the wall and the associated régime,
taking due account of the present Advisory Opinion.” (ICJ, Reports. 2004,
§ 160);

moreover, the ICRC study on customary international humanitarian

law notes that states:

“must exert their influence, to the degree possible, to stop violations of

international humanitarian law (rules 144);

as this is a rule of customary law, it is also applicable to international

organizations.

- Further, pursuant to IHL, beyond common article 1, the member

states of the EU are under specific duties to apply universal
jurisdiction to individual criminal suspects, especially in the light of
the recommendations of the UN Fact Finding Mission at paragraphs
1857 and 1975 (a) of its report to the UNHRC of September 2009. .1

This arises in relation to civilians under occupation under articles

146-147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which provide as
follows:

Art. 146
The High Contracting Parties undertake to enact any legislation necessary
to provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or ordering to

1
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf
 16

be committed, any of the grave breaches of the present Convention

defined in the following Article.

Each High Contracting Party shall be under the obligation to search for
persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed,
such grave breaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their
nationality, before its own courts. It may also, if it prefers, and in
accordance with the provisions of its own legislation, hand such persons
over for trial to another High Contracting Party concerned, provided such
High Contracting Party has made out a prima facie case.

Each High Contracting Party shall take measures necessary for the
suppression of all acts contrary to the provisions of the present Convention
other than the grave breaches defined in the following Article.

In all circumstances, the accused persons shall benefit by safeguards of

proper trial and defence, which shall not be less favourable than those
provided by Article 105 and those following of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949.

Art. 147. Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be
those involving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or
property protected by the present Convention: wilful killing, torture or
inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great
suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or
transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a
protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or wilfully
depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial
prescribed in the present Convention, taking of hostages and extensive
destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military
necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.

It is to be noted that Austria, France, Greece and Italy are four EU

countries that have failed to comply with Article 146 (1) in that their
internal legal order does not enable universal jurisdiction to be
 17

exercised over those suspected of violations of the crimes listed in

article 147.

Special emphasis is placed on the fact that article 146 not only
requires universal jurisdiction to be applied to those suspected of
criminal liability for grave breaches, but that pursuant to article 146
(3) states are required to take effective measures to repress non-
grave breaches too, which is explained in the official ICRC
commentary to the Convention as follows:

“under the terms of this paragraph, the Contracting Parties must also
suppress all other acts contrary to the provisions of this Convention.

The wording is not very precise. The expression "faire cesser" used in the
French text may be interpreted in different ways. In the opinion of the
International Committee, it covers everything which can be done by a
State to avoid acts contrary to the Convention being committed or
repeated. […] There is no doubt that what is primarily meant is the
repression of breaches other than the grave breaches listed and only in the
second place administrative measures to ensure respect for the provisions
of the Convention.”

C. Breaches by the EU and its member States of the

general rules of international law which require the EU
and its member states to respond to violations of
international law committed by Israel

23. Israel’s violations of international law are frequently violations of

“peremptory norms” of international law (jus cogens): targeted killings
that violate the right to life, deprivation of the liberty of Palestinians in
conditions that violate the prohibition of torture, violation of the right of
peoples to self-determination, living conditions imposed on a people that
constitute a type of apartheid.
 18

24. The peremptory character of these norms is attributable to the fact

that they cannot be derogated from (see, for the right to life and the
prohibition of torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, art. 4, § 2, and the Convention of 10 December 1984 against
torture, art. 2, §§ 2-3) or that they have been explicitly assimilated to
“peremptory norms” by the most authoritative scholarly opinion, namely
that of the International Law Commission (ILC) (on the prohibition of
apartheid and respect for the right of peoples to self-determination, see
the ILC draft articles on state responsibility, commentary on article. 40,
ILC Report, 2001, pp. 305-307).

25. When they witness a violation of such norms, even at a considerable

distance, states and international organizations cannot remain passive and
indifferent: in article 41 of the draft articles on state responsibility, the ILC
adopted a provision to the effect that:

“1. States shall cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means any
serious breach within the meaning of article 40.” [breach of a peremptory
norm of international law].”

In its commentary, the ILC makes it clear that:

« the obligation to cooperate applies to States whether or not they are

individually affected by the serious breach. What is called for in the face of
serious breaches is a joint and coordinated effort by all States to
counteract the effects of these breaches. (ILC Report, 2001, p. 114).

26. The EU and its member states are therefore under an obligation to
react in application of international law to prevent violations of
peremptory norms of international law and to counteract their
consequences. By failing to take appropriate action to that end, the EU
and its member states are breaching an elementary obligation of due
diligence pertaining to respect for the most fundamental rules of
international law.
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27. The RTP considers that this obligation to react implies, in accordance
with the rules of good faith and due diligence, the obligation to ensure that
the reaction against violations of peremptory norms of international law
complies with the principle of reasonable effectiveness. To that end, the
EU and its member states must use all available legal channels to ensure
that Israel respects international law. It therefore calls for a response that
goes beyond mere declarations condemning the breaches of international
law committed by Israel. Of course, the RTP takes note of these
declarations, but they are no more than a first step when it comes to
meeting the international obligations of the EU and its member states;
they are not fully performing the duty of reaction imposed by the rules of
international law.

28. Lastly, the RTP wishes to emphasize that the obligation to react
against violations of peremptory norms of international law must be
subject to a rule of non-discrimination and of unacceptability of double
standards: the RTP is perfectly well aware that states have not codified a
rule of equidistance in respect of the obligation to react, but it holds that
such a rule is inferable as a matter of course from the principles of good
faith and reasonable interpretation of international law: refusing to accept
it will inevitably lead to “a result which is manifestly absurd or
unreasonable” and which is ruled out by treaty law (1969 Convention on
the Law of Treaties, art. 32 (b). In these circumstances, the RTP considers
that it is unacceptable and contrary to the aforementioned juridical logic
for the EU to suspend its relations, de facto, with Palestine when Hamas
was elected in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and to maintain them
with a state that violates international law on a far greater scale than
Hamas.

D. Failure by the EU and its member states to refrain from

contributing to the violations of international law
committed by Israel
 20

29. The RTP notes that reports by experts have brought to light passive
and active forms of assistance by the EU and its member states for
violations of international law by Israel. Attention has been drawn, for
instance, to the following:

- exports of weapons and components of weapons by EU states to

Israel, some of which were used during the conflict in Gaza in
December 2008 and January 2009;
- exports of produce from settlements in occupied territories to
the EU;
- participation by the settlements in European research
programmes;
- failure of the EU to complain about the destruction by Israel of
infrastructure in Gaza during the Cast Lead operation;
- failure of the EU to demand Israeli compliance with clauses
concerning respect for human rights contained in the various
association agreements concluded by the EU with Israel;
- the decision by the EU to upgrade its relations with Israel under
the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Agreement;
- tolerance by the EU and its member states of certain economic
relations between European companies and Israel involving
commercial projects in the occupied territories, such as the
management of the Tovlan landfill site in the Jordan valley and
the construction of a tramline in East Jerusalem.

30. For these acts to qualify as unlawful assistance or aid to Israel, two
conditions must be met: the state providing assistance must do so with
the intention of facilitating the wrongful act attributable to Israel and it
must do so knowingly; article 16 of the ILC draft articles on state
responsibility reads:
 21

“A State which aids or assists another State in the commission of an

internationally wrongful act by the latter is internationally responsible for
doing so if:
a) That State does so with knowledge of the circumstances of
the internationally wrongful act; and
b) The act would be internationally wrongful if committed by that
State.”

In its commentary the ILC makes it clear that the state which assists the
perpetrator of the wrongful act must intend to facilitate the wrongful
conduct and the assisted state effectively engages in such conduct; the
assisting state incurs responsibility even if such assistance is not essential
to the performance of the wrongful act; it is sufficient if it “contributed
significantly to that act” (ILC Report, 2001, p. 66). The assisting state must
therefore be aware of the fact that Israel is violating international law and
that the assistance given to Israel was intended to facilitate such
violations.

31. In casu, the EU and its members states could not have been
unaware that some forms ofr assistance to Israel contributed or would
perforce have contribution to certain wrongful acts committed by Israel.
This is applicable to:

- exports of military equipment to a state that has maintained an

illegal occupation for more than forty years;
- imports of produce from settlements located in occupied
territories and no real control by the customs authorities of EU
member states of the origin of such produce save in exceptional
circumstances (CJEC, 25 February 2010, Brita), whereas the
exception should become the rule;
- evidence of a report repressed in 2005 and repeated internal
reports by EU officials to EU bodies listing violations accurately,
only to be ignored by those bodies.
 22

In both cases, this conduct contributed “significantly” to the wrongful acts

committed by Israel even if they did not directly cause such acts, and it is
reasonable to assume that the EU could not possibly have been unaware
of this. In these cases, the EU may be held to have been complicit in the
wrongful act committed by Israel and hence to incur responsibility.

32. The participation of the settlements in European research

programmes, the failure of the EU to complain during the “Cast Lead”
operation about the destruction by Israel of infrastructure that the EU had
funded in Gaza, and the (proposed) upgrading of bilateral relations
between the EU and Israel are characterized by a number of experts as
assistance to Israel in its alleged violations of international law. The ILC
considers that one must, in cases of this kind, “carefully” examine whether
the state accused of wrongful assistance was aware that it was facilitating
the commission of the wrongful act. According to the ILC:

“Where the allegation is that the assistance of a State has facilitated

human rights abuses by another State, the particular circumstances of
each case must be carefully examined to determine whether the aiding
State by its aid was aware of and intended to facilitate the commission of
the internationally wrongful conduct.” (ILC Report 2001, p. 68)

Even if the acts of the EU and its member states do not contribute directly
to the violations of international law committed by Israel, they provide a
form of security for Israel’s policy and encourage it to violate international
law because they cast the EU and its member states in the role of
approving spectators. As the ICTY put it:

"While any spectator can be said to be encouraging a spectacle - an

audience being a necessary element of a spectacle - the spectator in these
cases [German cases cited by the Chamber] was only found to be complicit
if his status was such that his presence had a significant legitimising or
encouraging effect on the principals." (ICTY, Furundzija case IT-95-17/1-T,
10 Dec. 1998, § 232).

As noted by an expert, the silence of the EU and its member states seems
like tacit approval or a sign of acceptance of violations of international law
by Israel. As it is inconceivable that the EU and its members states are
 23

unaware of the violations of international law being committed by Israel,

the RTP concludes that the acts in question constitute wrongful assistance
to Israel within the meaning of aforementioned article 16 of the UN-
International Law Commission draft articles on state responsibility.

At this stage of the proceedings, the RTP calls on:

(i) the EU and its member states to fulfil its obligations forthwith by
rectifying the breaches specified in section C and the failures specified in
section D
(ii) the EU in particular to implement the EU Parliament resolution
requiring the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and
thereby putting an end to the impunity that Israel has benefited from until
now.
(iii) EU Member states to implement the recommendation at para 1975
(a) of the UN Fact Finding Mission Report on the Gaza Conflict (Goldstone
Report) regarding the collection of evidence and the exercise of UJ against
Israeli and Palestinian suspects; and
(iv) EU Member states to repeal of any requirements in any member
state that a suspect must be a resident of that member state or of any
impediments to the compliance with the duty to prosecute or extradite for
trial all suspected war criminals sought out by the member states
(v) EU Member states to ensure that UJ laws and procedures are made
as effective as possible in practice, including through co-ordination and
the implementation of agreements on the mutual co-operation of states on
criminal matters, through the EU contact points on cross-border and
international crime, EUROPOL and INTERPOL etc.
(vi) EU Member states to make no regressive changes that would blunt
the effect of existing UJ laws, so as to ensure that no EU member state
becomes a safe haven for suspected war criminals
(vii) The Parliaments of Austria, France, Greece and Italy to pass laws
providing the penal legislation required by article 146 IVGC to enable UJ to
be exercised in those countries.
 24

(viii) individuals, groups and organisations to take all avenues open to

them to achieve compliance by EU member states and the EU of their
aforementioned obligations, as exemplified by the use of universal
jurisdiction over individual criminal suspects, domestic civil proceedings
against individual governments and/or their departments or agencies and
private companies, in respect of which it is the intention of the RTP to
commission and/or encourage others to commission research into which
countries and jurisdictions these matters can most effectively be pursued;
and
(ix) the existing legal actions and campaigns in the context of BDS to be
stepped up and widened within the EU and globally.

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine calls on the European Union and on each
of its members states to impose the necessary sanctions on its partner
Israel through diplomatic, trade and cultural measures in order to end the
impunity that it has enjoyed for decades. Should the EU lack the necessary
courage to do so, the Tribunal counts on the citizens of Europe to bring the
necessary pressure to bear on it by all appropriate means.

VI. Continuation of the proceedings

34. These conclusions close the first session of the RTP in Barcelona. The
RTP hopes that the EU and its member states will make known their views,
whereupon the RTP can review and update its conclusions at future
sessions of the Tribunal if necessary.