International law “prohibits” the use of “trapped”, apparently “innocent” devices, insisted today, before the UN Security Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk.
“It is a war crime to commit violent acts aimed at spreading terror among civilians,” he added, speaking at the meeting organized at the request of Algeria, following the simultaneous explosion of buzzers and portable radios in Lebanon that killed 37 people and 2,931 injured.
UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo warned the Security Council that if violence continues between Israel, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, then “we risk seeing a conflagration that could eclipse even the destruction and the sufferings we have witnessed so far.”
Turk pointed out that “it is difficult to understand how, under these circumstances, such attacks could be in line with the basic principles of discrimination, proportionality and precautionary measures in attack as defined by international humanitarian law”.
Turk called for an independent investigation into the blasts of the communications devices in Lebanon and stressed that those who ordered and carried out the attacks must be held accountable, noting that “war has rules.”
“Targeting thousands of people at the same time, whether they are civilians or members of armed organizations, without knowing who is in possession of said devices, where they are at the time of the attack, violates international humanitarian law,” he underlined.
“These attacks represent a new development in warfare, where communication devices are turned into weapons (…) This cannot be the new normal,” he insisted.
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