July 7, 2009: PCATI Attorney Majd Bader was invited to the United Nations in Geneva to testify before the Goldstone Commission, the UN commission charged with investigating violations of international humanitarian law surrounding the conflict in Gaza. His detailed testimony lasted half an hour during which he detailed the deleterious conditions in which Palestinian detainees were held in Gaza, including their being held in ditches for hours and even days at a time in the freezing cold of winter, without water, food or proper sanitary conditions.
Bader also testified that detainees were used as human shields by Israeli soldiers. His testimony also related to instances of physical and verbal violence, threats and sleep deprivation and painful shackling during interrogations by Israel's General Security Service (GSS). He detailed as well, the manner in which detainees were deprived of access to visits and other contact with their families. Many detainees were held as "illegal combatants" a category with no basis in international law and which facilitates further violations and denial of the detainees basic rights in that they are held without trial and no presentation of evidence against them.
To view Adv. Bader's testimony click here http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/gaza/gaza090707am1-eng.rm?start=00:48:27&end=01:15:01 .
To read the YNET article on his testimony click here http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3743073,00.html
