Russell Tribunal on Palestine

London session

November 2010

The second international session of the RToP will take place in London, on 20, 21 and 22 November 2010. It will examine International corporate complicity in Israel’s Violations of International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, and War Crimes.

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London proposal document (PDF)

After establishing the responsibilities and obligations of corporations under international law, this session will assess the conduct of a series of companies regarding different aspects of Israel’s violations of the rights of the Palestinian People. The Tribunal will also seek to uncover the system that allows corporations to act in such unlawful ways, and to show in what ways States and international organisations could be held accountable for this.

During this session, the jury will be examining cases on:

• Corporations providing tangible services and infrastructure that support illegal Israeli settlements and the occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
• Foreign banks and other financial institutions providing financial services to illegal settlements and Israeli banks etc. trading abroad who provide financial services to illegal settlements.
• Foreign companies that manufacture products inside the settlements and industrial zones in the West Bank and Israeli companies that export agricultural and other products from the settlements and industrial zones in the West Bank,
• Foreign companies involved in the export of arms and the infrastructure of war, occupation, colonisation and repression in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israeli companies that export arms and repressive hardware/knowledge abroad

Just as in the Barcelona session, experts and witnesses will be invited to present these cases to the jury. Challenged corporations will also be invited to defend their position, before the jury presents its conclusions in an international press conference.

The following personalities have confirmed their participation as jury members:

• Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate 1976, Northern Ireland
• John Dugard, Professeur of International law, Former Special rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, South Africa
• Ronald Kasrils, writer and activist, South Africa
• Michael Mansfield, barrister, President of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, United Kingdom
• José Antonio Martin Pallin, emeritus judge, Chamber II, Supreme Court, Spain
• Cynthia McKinney, former member of the US Congress and 2008 presidential candidate, Green Party, USA
• Aminata Traoré, author and former Minister of Culture of Mali
• Alice Walker, Poet and writer, USA.

Following this session, another international session is foreseen for 2011 in South Africa, which should be followed by a session in the United States of America in the same year. The whole process of the RToP will end with the organisation of an International final session, which will make a final judgement that will encompass conclusions of each session.