Geneva - The former chief prosecutor of the international courts for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Richard Goldstone, is to head a fact finding mission to investigate recent human rights violations in the Gaza Strip and Israel, the United Nations announced Friday. "The mission will have regard to all human rights violations and international humanitarian law violations committed in Israel, Gaza and the occupied territories," Goldstone told reporters in Geneva.
The wide-reaching mandate of the mission was determined by Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, a Nigerian diplomat and president of the Human Rights Council.
This would help the mission "gain the credibility of all sides and be truly, truly independent and produce a report that is fair, balanced and impartial," said Uhomoibhi.
Goldstone, a South African national, has served on the board of Human Rights Watch and the Nobel-winning Physicians for Human Rights. He teaches law at Harvard and New York University.
He led a commission which aimed to allow the non-violent transfer of power in South Africa from apartheid rule to its current democracy, after passing rulings as a judge which weakened racial segregation.
Goldstone also headed the investigation into the oil-for-food programme in Iraq.
It was "quite a shock, as a Jew, to be invited by the president to head the mission," Goldstone admitted.
"I believe I can approach the daunting task that I have accepted in an even-handed and impartial manner," he added.
The mission, to look into violations during the recent Israeli offensive in the coastal enclave, will include Hina Jilani, a Pakistani jurist and former envoy of the UN's secretary general for human rights defenders.
Desmond Travers, a former colonel with the Irish armed forces, was appointed to the team as a military specialist. He commanded UN peacekeeping forces in the Middle East and the former Yugoslavia.
Christine Chinkin, a professor of international law at the University of London, will also join the mission. She was a member of a UN investigation in Beit Hanoun in Gaza, led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Israel rejected that mission.
In Tel Aviv late last year, Israeli authorities also refused the entry of Richard Falk, the UN's expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories.
Rights groups say over 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the offensive, mostly civilians, along with 13 Israelis. Israel said the majority of the Palestinians killed were militants. There have been allegations that war crimes were committed during the fighting.
The new mission will also determine the legal status of the Gaza Strip, which Israel says it no longer occupies, though experts have disputed that noting the effective control it maintains over the territory.
The Palestinian envoy to Geneva met with Goldstone early Friday, while the jurist was still awaiting a meeting with the Israeli ambassador to the UN.
He called on all authorities in the region to cooperate with the mandate.
"It is in the interest of all Israelis and Palestinians that an independent team investigate," Goldstone said, adding that "I hope the report contributes to the peace process and justice to victims."
The appointments by Uhomoibhi came following a special session in January during which the 47 member states agreed to send a mission to Gaza.
