UN experts on Friday sounded the alarm after Israel issued an evacuation warning for more than 100 villages in southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut. More than 700,000 people, including 200,000 children, have been forced to leave their homes due to the threat of Israeli bombing.
The experts warned that forced displacement could constitute a crime against humanity under international law. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court identifies forced expulsion as a possible crime several times. Article 7(1)(d) defines the “deportation or forced transfer of populations” as a crime against humanity when it is “committed in the context of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population with knowledge of the attack”. In determining whether the prohibition on forced displacement has been violated, the crucial question is whether the displacement was “forced” or not. The Strength doesn’t have to be physicalThis can include threats of violence and intimidating actions “aimed at preventing the civilian population from exercising their free will, such as shooting at or burning civilian objects.”
“Ordering the evacuation of civilians does not relieve the parties of their legal obligations,” the experts said. “Warnings must be effective, civilians must have a real opportunity to reach safety, and those displaced must be guaranteed adequate protection and assistance.”
Last Friday, Amnesty International warned that forced displacement would worsen humanitarian suffering in Lebanon; It is estimated that 300,000 people were forcibly displaced at the time – a week later the number rose to 700,000. Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using white phosphorus, a chemical weapon banned under the ban Convention on Certain Conventional Weaponsover Lebanese civilian houses on March 3rd.
The warning was issued by three UN experts: George Katrougalos; Paula Gaviria, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; and Francesca Albanese the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
