UN-adopted Goldstone report goes to Security Council (Roundup)

By JT Nguyen Nov 5, 2009, 21:44 GMT

New York - An Arab-backed resolution endorsing the Goldstone report on the Israel-Hamas fighting in the Gaza Strip was adopted with a 114-18 vote by the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was requested to send the resolution to the Security Council for action, a demand rejected previously by the 15-nation council dominated by veto powers like the United States, an Israeli ally.

The countries that opposed the resolution included the US, Israel, Canada, Germany, Australia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Panama, Palau, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

A total of 44 countries abstained, including most European Union countries plus Japan, Russia and South Korea.

The majority voting bloc of Arab and Non-Aligned Movement countries in the 192-nation assembly easily provided the votes for passing the report drawn up by a four-member commission headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, which accused both sides of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The vote capped two days of speeches during which most Arab, Islamic and non-aligned countries turned out to denounce Israel, but rarely said a word against Hamas, which governs Gaza and its 1.5 million inhabitants.

Hamas fought Israel from December to January, in a conflict that the report said killed 1,400 Palestinians and 10 Israelis.

An Israel delegate denounced the adoption of the resolution as a 'mockery of reality' after Israel seized a vessel packed with weapons sent by Iran to Syria.

In addition to demanding action by the UN Security Council, the resolution urged both Israel and the Palestinian side to undertake separately within three months investigations that are 'independent, credible and in conformity with international standards into the serious violations of international humanitarian and international human rights law.'

The resolution called on Switzerland to reconvene the parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention protecting civilians in war zones in order to implement a similar convention in occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

It called on the UN chief to report within three months about the implementation of the resolution the assembly just adopted.

The Goldstone report was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council before it was sent to the assembly in New York.

Israel and the US have denounced the report as one-side and deeply flawed, and have opposed the report's recommendations as overreaching.