Accountability for the violation of human rights in the Occupied Territories

International law requires that every state deal with serious human rights violations that are committed by bodies or persons acting on its behalf or with its consent. This obligation takes two primary forms: 1) investigation of suspicions of commission of human rights violations followed by prosecution of the persons responsible where the findings of the investigation warrant, and 2) compensation of the victims for the injuries they suffered as a result of the violation.

One of the primary sources for the obligation to investigate serious violations of human rights is international criminal law. This body of law defines such infringements as international crimes and imposes criminal liability on the persons responsible for their commission. These infringements generally belong to one of three categories, depending on the circumstances of the case and intention of the person responsible: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The latter is especially relevant in Israel 's case inasmuch as it includes the serious violation of human rights of persons living in occupied territory – willful killing, torture, unlawful deportation, and extensive destruction of property – as well as intentional attacks against civilian objects or intentionally launching an attack knowing that it will cause disproportionate injury and damage to civilians.

The principle of individual responsibility requires the state to investigate, thoroughly and without bias, every suspicion of commission of international crimes by persons acting on its behalf or with its consent. If the investigative findings confirm the suspicions, the state must arrest the suspects and prosecute them. If the state fails to do so, other states may arrest the suspects, when they are present on the other country's soil, and prosecute them, or extradite them, for the crimes they have allegedly committed.

The obligation to investigate serious violations of human rights is derived also from the right of the victims, specified in international law, to know the facts of the case in which they, or members of their family, were harmed. The root of this right, known as "the right to truth," lies in international humanitarian law, which recognizes the right of family members to receive information on the fate of their relatives, and requires the states taking part in the hostilities to search after missing persons. In the 1970s, as a result of the increasing attention given it by UN bodies and regional systems for the protection of human rights, the status of this right under international law grew. This growth was especially evident in respect of the phenomenon of the "forced disappearance" of persons living under tyrannical regimes. Subsequently, the interpreters of international law began to apply the right to truth in international law also in other cases of human rights violation, among them execution without trial.

The responsibility of a state for illegal acts carried out by bodies or persons acting on its behalf requires it to mend the consequences of these acts. The first thing it must do is return the situation to its previous condition. In most cases of serious violation of human rights, this is not possible. In those cases, the main obligation in mending the situation is achieved by compensating the victims for the injury caused to them, directly and indirectly, as a result of the infringement of their rights. This obligation of compensation is explicitly incorporated in both international humanitarian law and in international human rights law.

Since the outbreak of the second intifada, Israel has increasingly avoided accountability for the serious violations of the human rights of residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for which it is responsible. This avoidance is seen, in part, in its policy not to open criminal investigations in cases of killing or wounding of Palestinian who were not taking part in the hostilities, except in exceptional cases, and in its enactment of legislation denying, almost completely, the right of Palestinians who were harmed as a result of illegal acts by Israeli security forces to sue for compensation for the damages they suffered.