Geneva - Israel and the Palestinian territories suffer from a "culture of impunity" that does not demand accountability for alleged war crimes committed during the last war in the Gaza Strip, Justice Richard Goldstone said Tuesday. The South African war crimes prosecutor was addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where he presented his UN-mandated report on the war between Israel and militant Palestinian groups at the turn of the year.
Both sides in the three-week conflict failed to adequately investigate their actions and deal with violations of international law, Goldstone said, but added that if there was "political will" the work could begin.
The lack of justice for victims was "undermining" chances for peace in the region, he said.
Hina Jilani, a jurist and part of the four member team, later said she hoped the report would help the stalled peace process.
"If they ignore violations, peace will not be sustainable," she said.
Goldstone, who was being accompanied in Geneva by security guards, rejected criticism leveled against his mission, saying the report was written without political motivation.
Allegations of bias were "flimsy," he later told reporters.
Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, however, said the report was "shameful," as Israel had carried out its air and ground offensive in self-defence. The Jewish state did not cooperate with the mission.
The US, represented by Michael Posner, an assistant secretary of state, also called the report "deeply flawed" and suggested Israel investigate its own actions.
Posner's remarks drew the ire of rights groups who gathered on the sidelines of the council session.
"Our list of failures is bigger than the list of victories. This was true with the previous administration, and no doubt will continue to be true with this administration," said Fred Abraham from New York-based Human Rights Watch, adding that he was surprised the government so thoroughly rejected the report.
The European Union also responded to the report in a statement read out at the council by Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, saying it was "serious report" which should remain on the council's agenda.
China, Russia, Brazil, the African Group, the Arab states and a coalition of Muslim nations backed the report in separate statements, while expressing concern for the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian areas.
In Gaza, the Islamist Hamas movement has rejected the findings of the report. However, the Palestinian envoy to Geneva, representing the government in Ramallah on the West Bank, thanked Goldstone for
