Panel Seeks More Time for Gaza War-Crimes Inquiry
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Version 0 of 1. GENEVA — A United Nations panel investigating possible war crimes in last year’s Gaza conflict said Monday that it needed more time in view of the resignation of its chairman last month. The two-person panel now led by Mary McGowan Davis, a former justice of the New York State Supreme Court, was due to report to the United Nations Human Rights Council later this month on the conduct of hostilities by Israeli forces and Hamas but requested a postponement until June. In a letter to the Council president on Monday, Ms. McGowan Davis cited a “need to adjust our work” as a result of the resignation of William Schabas as chairman in February. He stepped down after Israel complained of a conflict of interest because he had given legal advice to the Palestine Liberation Organization. The panel needs to “weigh with the utmost objectivity” a large number of submissions and documents received from both sides in recent weeks, Ms. McGowan Davis said. Panel members conducted interviews in Jordan but were unable to visit Gaza after Israel refused to cooperate with the inquiry, which it accused of bias. |