Amnesty International

Pétition adressée à l'ambassadrice des Etats-Unis en Algérie Elizabeth Moore Aubin

Ambassador

Elizabeth

Moore Aubin

US Embassy Algeria

Dear Ambassador Elizabeth Moore Aubin ,

I am writing to share Amnesty International’s grave concerns regarding the continued transfer by the United States of America of arms to Israel, despite the clear risk that they will be used for serious violations of international law, including international human rights and humanitarian law. In the light of the horrific situation in the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International urges you to immediately halt the transfer of arms to Israel and to call for an immediate and enduring ceasefire by all parties to the conflict.

Amnesty International has documented patterns of serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories for decades, including during recurrent Israel’s military operations such as those of December 2008-January 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2022, and the latest launched in the wake of the attacks on 7 October 2023 by Hamas and other armed groups. Amnesty International has also long documented and condemned serious violations of international humanitarian law by Hamas and other armed groups, including firing indiscriminate rockets at Israeli towns, the deliberate killings of civilians and hostage-taking of 7 October 2023.

As a result of over six months of relentless Israeli military attacks and the tightened blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip, there is an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and Palestinian civilians are at serious risk of genocide, as established by the International Court of Justice.  The death toll now exceeds 34,000 people, including at least 14,500 children, while at least 7,000 other Palestinians are reported missing. Palestinian civilians in Gaza are in the midst of an engineered humanitarian crisis. More than 1.7 million Palestinians have been internally displaced, grappling with severe shortages of essential goods and services such as food, water, shelter, and medical assistance; 100% of the population is food insecure and famine is now a reality, as found by the International Court of Justice on 28 March 2024.

Through hundreds of interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses, open-source investigations including image and weapons analysis and examination of satellite imagery, along with an assessment of a variety of other sources, Amnesty International has documented evidence of war crimes committed by all parties, using a wide variety of arms.  This evidence includes likely direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects and indiscriminate attacks, blocking of humanitarian assistance and collective punishment by Israeli forces; and on the part of Hamas and other armed groups, deliberate killing of civilians, hostage-taking and indiscriminate launching of rockets into Israel. Israel’s attacks have involved combat aircraft, general purpose bombs and guidance systems, drones, artillery, naval vessels and small arms and light weapons, among other types of weapons and military equipment.

These weapons and military equipment include those exported by the United States. An Amnesty International investigation found that US-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) were used by the Israeli military in two deadly, unlawful air strikes on homes full of civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip. The investigation found distinctive fragments of the US-made JDAM munition in the rubble of destroyed homes in central Gaza following two strikes that killed a total of 43 civilians – 19 children, 14 women and 10 men. These air strikes were either direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks, and as such could amount to war crimes.  Amnesty International has recently published a report detailing the government of Israel’s use of US-origin arms in violation of National Security Memorandum-20. Please find a copy of the report, enclosed. As detailed in the research brief,  submitted in response to National Security Memorandum on Safeguards and Accountability With Respect to Transferred Defense Articles and Defense Services, Amnesty International found that the government of Israel is using US-made weapons in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law and in a manner that is inconsistent with US law and policy. The United States must immediately suspend the transfer of arms, including ammunitions and other articles to the Israeli government.

In February 2024, over 30 UN Special Rapporteurs and legal experts warned that “any transfer of weapons or ammunition to Israel that would be used in Gaza is likely to violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately”.  In April 2024, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling on states "to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel, the occupying Power…to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights.”  
States which continue to transfer arms to Israel or Hamas and other armed groups with knowledge that the recipient state or group is using these arms to commit “internationally wrongful acts” – which include crimes under international law such as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity - are themselves at risk of aiding and assisting in those wrongdoings.  States also have an obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, including by ensuring that they do not provide support or assistance to a party to an armed conflict in the knowledge that such assistance will be used to carry out violations of international humanitarian law.  States parties to the Genocide Convention have a positive obligation to prevent genocide and to refrain from contributing to its commission, including by providing arms. 
In the light of the widespread, longstanding pattern of serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by all parties to the conflict, and the legal frameworks which prohibit transfers in this situation, Amnesty International Algeria is calling on the US to immediately halt the transfer of arms to Israel until there is no longer a substantial risk that arms could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law and potentially contributing to genocide. The US must follow its own laws and policies  regarding the transfer and sale of arms, including its Conventional Arms Transfer Policy and Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance, which together are meant to prevent arms transfers that risk facilitating or otherwise contributing to civilian harm and to violations of human rights or international humanitarian law. 
To avoid the risk of complicity in atrocity crimes, including genocide, we call on the US to: 
•	Immediately halt the export, transit, trans-shipment and brokering of all military materiel, including related technologies, parts and components, technical assistance, training, financial or other assistance.
•	To this end, suspend any existing permitsA and stop issuing new permits for transfers of military goods, and ensure those goods are not transferred to Israel through other states. 
•	Ensure that suspensions of arms transfers also cover dual-use goods which risk being used for military purposes. 
•	Call for an immediate and enduring ceasefire by all parties to the conflict.

We would be very happy to meet with you to discuss our concerns or provide any further information as you may require.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name}

Prénom

Nom

Courriel

Cochez cette case si vous souhaitez recevoir des emails sur les travaux d’Amnesty International. Vous pourrez vous désabonner à tout moment en cliquant sur le lien adéquat disponible dans chaque courriel.

Les données personnelles collectées sur ce formulaire sont traitées par l’association Amnesty International Algérie .Notre politique de confidentialité détaille la manière dont nous traitons et protégeons vos données personnelles conformément à la Loi 18-07 relative à la protection des données à caractère personnel.