Simon Wiesenthal Center To U.N. Human Rights Council: Investigate Lebanon For Complicity In War Crimes

August 9, 2006

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER TO U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: INVESTIGATE LEBANON FOR COMPLICITY IN WAR CRIMES

Direct  Targeting of Israel Hospitals "A clear  violation of Geneva Conventions"

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the negligence and complicity of Lebanon in the commission of war crimes against Israel by deliberately failing to stop the transfer of Katyusha rockets to Hezbollah and in failing to alert the Security Council about the amassing of such weapons--a  direct violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559.

“There never would have been a war in Lebanon had Beirut done its due diligence under Resolution 1559,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center. “Therefore, Lebanon is guilty of complicity with Hezbollah in the commission of war crimes against the people of Israel because of their failure to disarm Hezbollah or to even alert the U.N. of such violations.” Hier continued, “It is hypocritical that the only country the U.N. Human Rights Council investigates is the State of Israel and it is also tragic that so many innocent people in Lebanon had to lose their lives because of the unwillingness and negligence of the Lebanese government to stand up to Hezbollah. The time has come for the UN to turn its spotlight on Lebanon,” he said.

Rabbi Hier has just returned from leading a Wiesenthal Center humanitarian and solidarity mission to Israel’s frontline communities. “Our mission also saw clear evidence that hospitals in Safed, Haifa, Nahariya, and Hadera, were deliberately targeted for Katyusha attacks, a clear violation of articles 18 and 19 of the Geneva Convention,”he said. The mission also met with Israeli Foreign Minister Livni and other government officials and distributed over $650,000 raised by the Center to hospitals, rehab centers and shelters under fire in the north and south of the country, including Arab-Israeli communities.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS and the Council of Europe.

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036.