The expert opinion will be submitted to the High Court of Justice
tomorrow, June 18, prior to the hearing scheduled for July 18, 2003 on
the petition submitted by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel
and LAW-The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and
the Environment against Israel’s assassination policy

In an opinion, unprecedented for its severity, Professor Antonio Cassese,
renowned expert on international humanitarian law, determines that the
assassinations carried out by the IDF in the Occupied Territories could
be included in the legal definition of war crimes. Professor Cassese’s
opinion will be submitted tomorrow to the High Court of Justice prior to
the hearing scheduled for July 8, 2003 on the petition filed by LAW-The
Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI).

Attorneys Avigdor Feldman and Michael Sfard filed the petition in January
2002. The panel of justices appointed to hear the petition is considered
the most senior at the High Court of Justice and includes Chief Justice
Aharon Barak and the Justices Theodore Or and Eliyahu Matza. The court
has already rejected the State’s claim that the assassinations are not
actionable. At the next hearing, which will be held after repeated
postponements by the State, the Court will hear the petitioners’ request
for an interim injunction prohibiting assassinations until a decision on
the petition is handed down. The petition claims that between the
beginning of the Intifada and until April 2003 the IDF assassinated over
230 Palestinians, among them 80 innocent children, women and male
passersby.

In his 20-page opinion, Professor Antonio Cassese states that the killing
of civilians suspected of terrorist activities, if not carried out while
they are directly engaged in these activities, is a blatant violation of
one of the most fundamental tenets of international law ­ the obligation
of warring sides to distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Professor Cassese opinion is considered unprecedented in its severity due
to the fact that he is considered a world renowned expert in
International Humanitarian Law and his prestige among international
experts in the field.

Professor Antonio Cassese served as a justice on the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the years 1993-2000 and
was the tribunal’s first president until 1997. In 2002 he was awarded an
international prize by the International Academy for Culture, which is
headed by Noble Prize winner Eli Weizel. The prize was awarded to
Professor Cassese in honor of his ”exceptional contribution to the
protection of human rights in Europe and in the world”. He is a world-
respected lecturer at several universities, among them the universities
in Florence, Rotterdam, the Sorbonne and the University of Paris. He was
a member of the UN Human Rights Commission and served as the president of
the European Council’s Committee on Torture. He is the author of many
authoritative books and articles in the field of International
Humanitarian Law.

PCATI and LAW state that Professor Cassese’s detailed opinion affirms
that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is in complete
violation of the principles of ethics and justice as reflected under
international law. The organizations state “The large numbers of
complaints which daily accumulate in the organizations’ offices on the
severe violations of the rights of Palestinians are a testimony to the
fact that the army has long ago stopped dealing solely with the defense
of the security of Israel. The army and Israeli security forces are daily
involved in violations of international law including assassinations,
torture and severe physical and psychological violations of Palestinians.
These actions do not prevent war, they create it”.

For additional details please call:

Attorney Michael Sfard
Tel: 03-5608833

Dianne Luping, LAW
Tel: 02-5833430, 055-761847

Hannah Friedman, PCATI
Tel: 02-5630073, 056-556442

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LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment is a non-governmental organization dedicated to preserving
human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is affiliate to the
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the International Federation
for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organization Against Torture
(OMCT).

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment, PO Box 20873, Jerusalem, tel. +972-2-5833530, fax. +972-2-
5833317, law@lawsociety.org, www.lawsociety.org.