Center for Constitutional Rights: Serial Abuse of International Law
July 17, 2007
Summary: The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) claims to be a non-profit legal and educational organization which uses litigation “to advance the law in a positive direction and “strengthen the broader movement for constitutional and human rights.” In the past, CCR has been active in advancing civil rights in the United States, but its activities have become more radicalized. This organization contributes to the demonization of Israel and exploitation of international law primarily through its lawsuits against Israeli officials for alleged “war crimes, extrajudicial killing, crimes against humanity, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” In this process, CCR consistently disregards the context of terror, denies Israel’s right to self-defense, and accuses it of deliberately targeting civilians.
Cases against Israel
by Soros’ Center for Constitutional Rights
Summary
Despite CCR’s claimed commitment to strengthening international human rights, a review of the NGO’s work suggests otherwise. Although there are certain areas in which CCR has followed its mandate, the disproportionate criticism of Israel and disregard for the context of terror severely detracts from the organization’s integrity. It is particularly disturbing that for an organization committed to legal frameworks and protecting human rights, in the case of Israel, CCR consistently applies double standards, ignoring the abuses committed against Israeli civilians. By doing so, CCR promotes injustice, undermines international law, contributes to a culture of impunity by groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and advances the demonization of Israel.
Case Against Caterpillar Inc.
On March 15, 2005, CCR filed a suit against Caterpillar, Inc. on behalf of the parents of Rachel Corrie, an International Solidarity Movement campaigner who was accidentally killed by an IDF bulldozer while trying to interfere with an anti-terror operation on March 16, 2003. CCR maintains that Caterpillar knowingly, “provided specially designed bulldozers to Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) that it knew would be used to demolish homes and endanger civilians.” The NGO further claims that Corrie was a “peace activist protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes,” who was “brutally killed.” This description is a misrepresentation of the events leading to Corrie’s death. NGO Monitor as well as other organizations have reported on the circumstances surrounding her death. Once again, CCR has deleted this crucial information from the record.
Of the international human rights cases that are currently on CCR’s docket, two target Israeli officials. No CCR publications, statements, or lawsuits were found on the conflicts and massive human rights abuses in Darfur, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Iran, Chechnya, Saudi Arabia, or North Korea after searching the organization’s website.
Other notable CCR activities against Israel include a case against Caterpillar Inc. on behalf of the parents of Rachel Corrie for knowingly “providing specially designed bulldozers to Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) that it knew would be used to demolish homes and endanger civilians”.
In an open letter to President George Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, CCR excoriated the United States for selling weapons to Israel, making the specious claim that “Israel’s conduct cannot be equated in any way with that of its enemies but is vastly superior in its catastrophic consequences.” In an anti-Israel strategy document drafted by the UN Workshop on Palestine Work in the Global Peace Movement, CCR is listed as an organization that should be utilized to promote the Palestinian narrative.
CCR’s Attempted Prosecution of Israeli Officials
Belhas v. Ya’alon
On December 15, 2005, CCR filed a case against Moshe Ya’alon, then former head of the Intelligence Branch and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The plaintiff, Saadallah Ali Belhas, allegedly lost his wife and three children in an attack by the IDF against a Hezbollah stronghold in Qana, Lebanon in 1996. CCR, which represented plaintiffs in the case, charged Yaalon with “war crimes, extrajudicial killing, crimes against humanity, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” The complaint further claims that forces under Ya’alon’s command were “deliberately and wantonly attacking and killing” civilians who had taken refuge in a UN compound near Qana and failed to warn the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) compound of impending attacks.
CCR’s case against Ya’alon is predicated on the conviction that the IDF targeted a UN compound for the sole reason of inflicting harm against civilians. The website’s summary of the case deletes the context of the ongoing terror attacks against Israel. (In the five weeks prior to the incident, seven Israelis were killed by Hezbollah attacks, and the IDF response was intended to prevent Hezbollah from launching Katyusha rockets into Northern Israel. CCR also ignores Hezbollah’s use of human shields at the time of the IDF operation – in itself a clear violation of international law.
Even Human Rights Watch, which issued a critical report against Israel, acknowledged that “the only thing you [the public] can accuse us of being weak is on the issue of Hizballah shielding.” (Ellen Yan, “Rights Group Chides Israel, Hezbollah,” Newsday, May 23, 1996).
Defendant’s court filings reveal that CCR omitted critical facts from its filings, including that more countries voted against or abstained from voting for a UN General Assembly Resolution condemning the bombing than those countries who voted for it. Moreover, the determination of former President Clinton that the incident was a “tragic misfiring in Israel’s legitimate exercise of its right to self defense” is also missing from CCR’s synopses. The case was dismissed by the federal court judge on December 14, 2006.
Matar v. Dichter
The second case filed by CCR against an Israeli government official sought to prosecute Avi Dichter, former Director of Israel’s General Security Service. On December 8, 2005, CCR together with radical Palestinian NGO, PCHR, charged Dichter with “war crimes and other gross human rights violations,” for an attack which allegedly killed fifteen people, including Sheik Salah Shehada, a founder of the military wing of Hamas and one of Israel’s most wanted terrorists.
The attack against Shehada took place on June 22, 2002, when the Israeli Air Force fired a missile into Shehada’ home, killing fifteen and injuring around 100 people. CCR’s summary implies that the IDF attack in Gaza was motivated by nothing more than a desire for wanton destruction and killing of innocents. The synopses, however, ignores that Shehada masterminded hundreds of terror attacks, including a bus bombing which killed many Israelis in Jerusalem a month earlier. CCR also pointedly fails to mention that one day prior to the Israeli attack, Shehada took responsibility for an attack in Tel-Aviv on June 16 in which eight Israelis were killed in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen dressed as Israeli soldiers.
Charging Dichter with “intentional attacks on civilians,” suggests a serious lack of understanding, if not deliberate obfuscation, by CCR regarding the norms of international law related to self-defense against terrorism. Indeed, in its procedural maneuvering in court, CCR filed a motion asking the court to strike from the record evidence produced by Dichter regarding Shehada’s terrorist activity and historical background regarding Hamas’ war against Israel. On May 2, 2007, the US federal judge dismissed CCR’s case against Dichter, but in terms of anti-Israel demonization, CCR had achieved its goal.
Thanks MarvinStinson.