RussellTribunalPalestine

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine has held a meeting in Brussels on 16th of December to prepare for its first session, to be held in Barcelona from 1 to 3 March 2010. In the tradition of the preceding Russell Tribunals, first on Vietnam (launched by Lord Bertrand Russell in 1966) and then on Latin America, this initiative is an authentic peoples’ tribunal aimed at generating public awareness of the serious and recurrent violations of human rights in Palestine.Unlike the preceding Tribunals, the aim in this case is not to denounce a perpetrator of the violations, since that has already been done, for instance by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in its Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004, which is endowed with considerable legal force. The aim of this peoples’ tribunal is to question the international complicity enjoyed by the State of Israel, which has been pursuing a policy of war, occupation and colonisation for 60 years in Palestinian territory, notwithstanding unanimous condemnation by the United Nations and a large number of states and the fact that its policy is in flagrant breach of international treaties, particularly the Geneva Conventions concerning the protection of populations occupied by a foreign power.The Barcelona session will analyse the position of the European Union on Israel. While Europe is the prime contributor of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, it has proved to be incapable of securing respect for the rules of international law by a state occupying territories that have not been granted to it by the United Nations.

4 mars 2009, Bruxelles Conférence de presse Lancement du Tribunal Russell sur la Palestine 4th of March 2009, Brussels Press conference Launch of the RUSSELL TRIBUNAL on Palestine production: chris den hond, florent, frank barat

4 mars 2009, Bruxelles Conférence de presse Lancement du Tribunal Russell sur la Palestine Pierre Galand, président du Comité Européen de Coördination des ONG sur la question de la Palestine CECP réalisation: chris den hond, florent et frank barat

4th of March 2009, Brussels Press conference Launch of the RUSSELL TRIBUNAL on Palestine Ken Loach, filmmaker production: chris den hond, florent and frank barat

4th of March 2009, Brussels Press conference Launch of the RUSSELL TRIBUNAL on Palestine Ken Loach, filmmaker, on the role of independent media. production: chris den hond, florent and frank barat

4th of March 2009, Brussels Press conference Launch of the RUSSELL TRIBUNAL on Palestine Paul Laverty, screenwriter production: chris den hond, florent and frank barat

4th of March 2009, Brussels Press conference Launch of the RUSSELL TRIBUNAL on Palestine Raji Surani, vice president of the International Federation of Human Rights, Palestine production: chris den hond, florent and frank barat

4th of March 2009, Brussels Press conference Launch of the RUSSELL TRIBUNAL on Palestine Nurit Peled, Sakharov price winner on the Freedom of Speech production: chris den hond, florent and frank barat

4th of March 2009, Brussels Press conference Launch of the RUSSELL TRIBUNAL on Palestine Ken Coates, president of the Bertrand Russell Foundation for Peace production: chris den hond, florent and frank barat