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There is ample proof that Hamas is using Palestinian civilians - even children - as human shields. From situating military objects in the middle of homes/in schools/hospitals etc.., to using ambulances, to outright deliberately assembling children near a rocket launch points so Israel can't bomb the rockets, as this video shows: http://mignews.com/mobile/article.html?id=180714_84241_99129

Question: Has there been ANY official condemnation (from UN, any other international organization, or any government aside from Israel or USA/Canada) of Hamas specifically for the use of children and other civilians as human shields, which violates both Geneva convention and any form of human decency?

Rodrigo de Azevedo
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user4012
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3 Answers3

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The EU condemned Hamas' rocket fire and use of human shields. From the EU statement:

The EU strongly condemns calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields.

The leader of the Australian Labor Party issued a statement condemning Hamas' use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes:

Labor deplores the abuse of civilian facilities for military purposes, including a Gaza school that was used to hide rockets.

I had trouble finding other governments or government officials (other than those in the US and Canada) condemning Hamas for endangering its own civilians, though a PA official did condemn Hamas' firing rockets at Israeli civilians as a war crime.

Not that this may not be a comprehensive list (it's just what I heard about and could find), and that these statements were usually coupled with criticisms of Israel or general calls for restraint, but nevertheless there have been non-US and non-Canada governments or government officials condemning Hamas' use of human shields.

Publius
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  • +1. But I would quibble a on EU statement (condemning "calls" is different from condemning actual use - which includes placing weapons in living areas, hospitals etc...). – user4012 Aug 20 '14 at 00:47
  • Also, is Australian Labour party at this time running Australian foreign policy? (I thought that Liberals held PM and thus formed the government and formulated foreign policy, with Labor in opposition, thus not really being in any position to say anything official?) – user4012 Aug 20 '14 at 00:47
  • @DVK The liberals are currently the opposition in Australia, though I figured such a statement might interest you regardless. I think the EU's statement answers your question even by a strict interpretation, though I may not have understood what you had in mind. You can read the article for more from the EU and see if what you're looking for is there. Primarily it's just the US (and since the Harper government, Canada) that condemns these things.

    These are all the statements I could find. Maybe there are others but I kind of can't prove a negative.

     – Publius Aug 20 '14 at 01:40
  • EU one is... on the fence. Not exactly what I was looking for - too narrow - but worded unambiguously enough that it mostly fits. – user4012 Aug 20 '14 at 11:15
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This shares a flaw with the previous answer, in that it's not quite official, although due to the large numbers I thought it was worth posting. US Congressman Israel, Ros-Lehtinen, Deutsch, and Cole sent a letter to the UNHRC with official support of over 100 other members of congress (the release on congressman Israel's official website: http://israel.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/more-than-100-members-join-reps-israel-ros-lehtinen-deutch-and-cole-to. The letter http://israel.house.gov/sites/israel.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/UN%20HRC%20Letter%20on%20Hamas%20Human%20Shields%20-%20FINAL%20SIGNATURES.pdf calls on the UN to condemn Hamas for its use of human shields.

ewkochin
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    US Congress is not authorized to conduct foreign policy, so this is not "official", really. Just political domestic posturing. – user4012 Aug 19 '14 at 18:04
  • True, but if congress were to pass a resolution (rather than just send a letter) condemning Hamas, wouldn't that count as official, despite its lack of authority? – ewkochin Aug 19 '14 at 18:06
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"To put it succinctly, Hamas is using its own citizens in the Gaza strip as shields. So it is no coincidence that Hamas is on the EU list of terrorist organizations."

said congressman Balder in European Parliament; see for example http://ejpress.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49818&catid=12# .

There were other congressmen of European Parliament (especially those from the Party of the European Left) who asked Israel to stop the slaughter, to knock down the West bank barrier, and to move away from Palestine.

drake
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  • Was he speaking on behalf of the Parlament, or merely expressing his personal opinion on the floor? If the latter, it doesn't fit what I was asking for (international organization or government). Great find though! – user4012 Jul 19 '14 at 00:10
  • @DVK A congressman is supposed to officially represent the (EU) people. One has to think that he was speaking as such. A parliament has many voices, no one can speak on behalf of it (unless there is unanimity, what is nearly impossible in an international institution with more than 700 members). – drake Jul 19 '14 at 00:39
  • No. Official means it's a vote-on and passed resolution as far as parlament is concerned. Otherwise, it's not official, merely a private opinion of some official figure. – user4012 Jul 19 '14 at 13:15
  • @DVK After double-checking my English dictionary, I restate that it WAS official as those words were said by an authority (a congressman) during one session and they were recorded in the report of parliamentary proceedings. If you mean that that opinion does not represent the whole parliament's opinion, then I agree. – drake Jul 20 '14 at 19:37
  • while it's official, I specifically restricted the question to "from UN, any other international organization, or any government aside from Israel or USA/Canada". A single parlament member making a personal speach doesn't make for a government statement, as he wasn't speaking for the government or on its behalf (the way a secretary of state would) – user4012 Jul 20 '14 at 20:43
  • @DVK I agree with that. Even though I am getting negative votes and perhaps the answer doesn't exactly respond your question, I'm not going to delete it until there is another one better, unless you want me to delete it. – drake Jul 20 '14 at 21:48
  • @drake - I can find a quote from a US official indicating that women can't get pregnant when they're raped. That doesn't make it the US's official position. Only the head of a state/organization can speak for the whole of it. – Bobson Jul 24 '14 at 21:23
  • @Bobson, that quote is taken out of context and might actually be correct. But, I agree with your position on members of an organization making a statement not being official for that organization unless they are the head of it. – user1873 Aug 01 '14 at 13:29