Hizballah Indiscriminately Attacked Civilians

That's the opinion of a new Human Rights Watch report on Hizballah's actions during the 2006 conflict that Iran's proxy started against Israel. Rather than address the accusations with facts as Israel did, Hizballah asked supporters to stop the news conference. Human Rights Watch, fearing a terrorist attack against the hotel where the announcement of the report as scheduled to take place, cancelled the press conference.

Via WAPO: BEIRUT, Aug. 29 -- An international human rights group has concluded that Lebanon's Hezbollah movement indiscriminately attacked civilians during its conflict with Israel last summer, a finding that prompted denunciations from both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah.

In that climate, New York-based Human Rights Watch canceled a news conference it had planned to hold Thursday in Beirut to release the report, and its officials said they were being unfairly silenced.

The 126-page report found that "as a party of an armed conflict governed by international humanitarian law," Hezbollah had "violated fundamental prohibitions against deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians."

The full report on Hizballah's war crimes is located here at the Human Rights Watch website. Human Rights Watch has released this statement concerning the cancellation of the press conference.

(Beirut, August 29, 2007) – Human Rights Watch today canceled a news conference planned for Thursday, August 30, 2007 in Beirut, citing reports by Hezbollah-controlled media about planned demonstrations to prevent the scheduled event at the Crowne Plaza hotel, and the hotel’s decision to disallow the news conference.

Human Rights Watch had called the news conference to release “Civilians Under Assault: Hezbollah's Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War,” a new 128-page report criticizing Hezbollah for its conduct during the 2006 war with Israel, in particular Hezbollah’s practice of deliberately and indiscriminately firing rockets toward Israeli civilian areas.

“Hezbollah is trying to silence criticism of its conduct during the 2006 war,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division. “But the fairness and accuracy of our reporting will speak for themselves, whether we hold a press conference or not.”

Two questions for Human Rights Watch. First, What took you so long, your report criticizing Israel was released months and months ago? And two, Why did you wuss out now? Could it be because you were reporting on terrorists who might kill you for your criticism?

Original Hizballah Indiscriminately Attacked Civilians post here at The Jawa Report.