[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 25, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H4068-H4073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EXPRESSING DEEP CONCERN OVER THE USE OF CIVILIANS AS HUMAN SHIELDS

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the resolution (H. Res. 125) expressing deep concern over the use of 
civilians as ``human shields'' in violation of international 
humanitarian law and the law of war during armed conflict, including 
Hezbollah's tactic of embedding its forces among civilians to use them 
as human shields during the summer of 2006 conflict between Hezbollah 
and the State of Israel, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 125

       Whereas the term ``human shields'' refers to the use of 
     civilians, prisoners of war, or other noncombatants whose 
     mere presence is designed to protect combatants and objects 
     from attack;
       Whereas the use of human shields violates international 
     humanitarian law (also referred to as the Law of War or Law 
     of Armed Conflict);
       Whereas throughout the summer of 2006 conflict with the 
     State of Israel, Hezbollah forces utilized human shields to 
     protect themselves from counterattacks by Israeli forces;
       Whereas the majority of civilian casualties of that 
     conflict might have been avoided and civilian lives saved had 
     Hezbollah not employed this tactic;
       Whereas the news media made constant mention of civilian 
     casualties but rarely pointed to the culpability, under 
     international law, of Hezbollah for their endangerment of 
     such civilians;
       Whereas United States and international leaders attempted 
     to call the use of human shields to the world's attention;
       Whereas on August 11, 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza 
     Rice stated, ``Hezbollah and its sponsors have brought 
     devastation upon the people of Lebanon, dragging them into a 
     war that they did not choose, and exploiting them as human 
     shields . . .'';
       Whereas on August 14, 2006, President George W. Bush 
     stated, ``Hezbollah terrorists targeted Israeli civilians 
     with daily rocket attacks. Hezbollah terrorists used Lebanese 
     civilians as human shields, sacrificing the innocent in an 
     effort to protect themselves from Israeli response . . .'';
       Whereas Jan Egeland, United Nations Undersecretary-General 
     for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, 
     accused Hezbollah of ``cowardly blending . . . among women 
     and children'';
       Whereas for states parties to Additional Protocol I, such 
     as Lebanon, Article 50(1) to the Geneva Convention defines 
     civilian as, ``[a]ny person who does not belong to one of the 
     categories of persons referred to in Article 4(A)(1), (2), 
     (3), and (6) of the Third Convention and in Article 43 of 
     this Protocol. In the case of doubt whether a person is a 
     civilian, that person shall be considered a civilian.'';
       Whereas for states parties to Additional Protocol I, such 
     as Lebanon, Article 51(7) to the Geneva Convention states, 
     ``[T]he presence or movement of the civilian population or 
     individual civilians shall not be used to render certain 
     points or areas immune from military operations, in 
     particular in attempts to shield military objectives from 
     attacks or to shield, favour or impede military operations. 
     The Parties to the conflict shall not direct the movement of 
     the civilian population or individual civilians in order to 
     attempt to shield military objectives from attacks or to 
     shield military operations.''; and
       Whereas Convention IV, Article 28, Relative to the 
     Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of the Geneva 
     Convention states, ``The presence of a protected person may 
     not be used to render certain points or areas immune from 
     military operations.'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
       (1) strongly condemns the use of innocent civilians as 
     human shields, including Hezbollah's use of this brutal and 
     illegal tactic during the summer of 2006 conflict with 
     Israel;
       (2) calls on responsible nations to condemn the use of 
     civilians as human shields as a violation of international 
     humanitarian law; and
       (3) calls on responsible nations and experts in the area of 
     international humanitarian law to focus particular attention 
     on the use of human shields in violation of international 
     humanitarian law and make further recommendations on the 
     prevention of such violation in the future.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Ackerman) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous materials on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
resolution and yield myself such time as I might consume.
  Last year, we witnessed a tragic conflict in Lebanon, instigated by 
Hezbollah's unprovoked cross-border raid into Israel. This Hezbollah 
action resulted in the killing of eight brave Israeli soldiers and the 
kidnapping of two others, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
  The suffering of the Lebanese people was immense as thousands fled 
their homes in the subsequent fighting. Many homes were damaged or 
destroyed, and lives were lost.
  The key reason that civilian areas were destroyed was the cynical 
strategy of Hezbollah guerrillas to stage their attacks from the middle 
of towns and residential areas.
  The use of civilians as human shields is reprehensible and is in 
direct violation of all the laws of warfare. Indeed, the Rome Statute 
of the International Criminal Court provides that such conduct is a 
serious violation of the laws of war and should be prosecuted.
  This resolution properly condemns the use of human shields and, in 
particular, the conduct of Hezbollah in this bloody conflict. Let us 
make no mistake. The loss of civilian life in Lebanon was due solely to 
Hezbollah's cruel and uncivilized use of civilian areas as military 
bases. Meanwhile, Hezbollah used rocket fire to murder Israeli 
civilians indiscriminately and to destroy Israeli civilian areas that 
were of no military value whatsoever.
  This resolution calls on all responsible nations to condemn such 
heinous acts and to work to eliminate them. No nation that calls itself 
a member of the international community can engage in such barbaric 
practices. In conflicts all over the globe, human shields have been 
used for various purposes. None of them are acceptable.
  Let us urge the President and our friends and allies to join us and 
do their utmost to stop the use of human shields once and for all.
  Madam Speaker, I urge all of our colleagues to support the 
resolution.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  During last summer's war between Israel and Lebanon, which was 
initiated by Hezbollah jihadist militants breaching Israel's border and 
killing and kidnapping Israeli soldiers, Hezbollah extremists used 
Lebanese civilians as human shields to protect themselves from 
counterattacks by Israeli forces.
  Hezbollah jihadists embedded their forces among innocent civilians in 
violation of international law.
  According to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, ``Hezbollah and its 
sponsors have brought devastation upon the people of Lebanon, dragging 
them into a war that they did not choose, and exploiting them as human 
shields.''
  To express deep concern over the use of civilians by Hezbollah and to 
condemn these actions, my distinguished colleagues, Congressman Ron 
Klein and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, introduced this bill.

[[Page H4069]]

  Among other things in the bill, it strongly condemns the use of 
innocent civilians as human shields, including Hezbollah's use of this 
savage and illegal tactic during last summer's war between Israel and 
Lebanon; calls on the international community to recognize and condemn 
these violations of international law; and calls on responsible nations 
and experts in the area of international humanitarian law to pay 
special attention on the use of human shields in violation of 
international humanitarian law and make further recommendations on the 
prevention of such violation in the future.
  I urge my colleagues to support this very important legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich), the chairman of the Oversight and 
Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.
  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my good friend Mr. 
Ackerman for the opportunity to address the Congress on this issue.
  As some of my colleagues are aware, on July 19, 2006, I introduced 
legislation to this Congress calling on the President to appeal to all 
sides in the crisis in the Middle East for an immediate cessation of 
violence and to commit the United States diplomats to multiparty 
negotiations with no preconditions. This resolution specifically 
related to the events that brought violence to Lebanon and to Israel as 
well.
  I want to say from the start that I took that position because I 
believe that Israel has a right to survive and Israel is entitled to 
its security and so, too, the people of Lebanon have a right to survive 
and were entitled to their security.
  I think that it is regrettable that our government did not become 
immediately involved in diplomatic relations so that we could have been 
able to forestall the disaster that was visited upon south Lebanon 
where tens of thousands of structures were leveled.
  I am not speaking about this theoretically, Madam Speaker, because my 
wife and I went to south Lebanon and surveyed the damage, and it was 
utter destruction.
  I would refer my colleagues to Amnesty International's report 
regarding the destruction in south Lebanon.
  I also would like to put into the Record a copy of H. Con. Res. 450 
which called on the President to appeal to all sides in the crisis.

                            H. Con. Res. 450

       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) calls upon the President to--
       (A) appeal to all sides in the current crisis in the Middle 
     East for an immediate cessation of violence;
       (B) commit United States diplomats to multi-party 
     negotiations with no preconditions; and
       (C) send a high-1evel diplomatic mission to the region to 
     facilitate such multi-party negotiations;
       (2) urges such multi-party negotiations to begin as soon as 
     possible, including delegations from the governments of 
     Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, 
     Jordan, and Egypt; and
       (3) supports an international peacekeeping mission to 
     southern Lebanon to prevent cross-border skirmishes during 
     such multi-party negotiations.
                                  ____


                [From the New York Times, Jan. 28, 2007]

             Israel May Have Violated Arms Pact, U.S. Says

                   (By David S. Cloud and Greg Myre)

       Washington, Jan. 27.--The Bush administration will inform 
     Congress on Monday that Israel may have violated agreements 
     with the United States when it fired American-supplied 
     cluster munitions into southern Lebanon during its fight with 
     Hezbollah last summer, the State Department said Saturday.
       The finding, though preliminary, has prompted a contentious 
     debate within the administration over whether the United 
     States should penalize Israel for its use of cluster 
     munitions against towns and villages where Hezbollah had 
     placed its rocket launchers.
       Cluster munitions are anti-personnel weapons that scatter 
     tiny but deadly bomblets over a wide area. The grenadelike 
     munitions, tens of thousands of which have been found in 
     southern Lebanon, have caused 30 deaths and 180 injuries 
     among civilians since the end of the war, according to the 
     United Nations Mine Action Service.
       Midlevel officials at the Pentagon and the State Department 
     have argued that Israel violated American prohibitions on 
     using cluster munitions against populated areas, according to 
     officials who described the deliberations. But other 
     officials in both departments contend that Israel's use of 
     the weapons was for self-defense and aimed at stopping the 
     Hezbollah attacks that claimed the lives of about 40 Israeli 
     soldiers and civilians and at worst was only a technical 
     violation.
       Any sanctions against Israel would be an extraordinary move 
     by the Bush administration, a strong backer of Israel, and 
     several officials said they expected little further action, 
     if any, on the matter.
       But sanctions against Israel for misusing the weapons would 
     not be unprecedented. The Reagan administration imposed a 
     six-year ban on cluster-weapon sales to Israel in 1982, after 
     a Congressional investigation found that Israel had used the 
     weapons in civilian areas during its 1982 invasion of 
     Lebanon. One option under discussion is to bar additional 
     sales of cluster munitions for some period, an official said.
       The State Department is required to notify Congress even of 
     preliminary findings of possible violations of the Arms 
     Export Control Act, the statute governing arms sales. It 
     began an investigation in August.
       Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said that 
     the notification to Congress would occur Monday but that a 
     final determination about whether Israel violated the 
     agreements on use of cluster bombs was still being debated.
       ``It is important to remember the kind of war Hezbollah 
     waged,'' he said. ``They used innocent civilians as a way to 
     shield their fighters.''
       Even if Israel is found to be in violation, the statute 
     gives President Bush discretion about whether to impose 
     sanctions, unless Congress decides to take legislative 
     action. Israel makes its own cluster munitions, so a cutoff 
     of American supplies would have mainly symbolic significance.
       Israel gave the State Department a dozen-page report late 
     last year in which it acknowledged firing thousands of 
     American cluster munitions into southern Lebanon but denied 
     violating agreements that prohibit their use in civilian 
     areas, the officials said. The cluster munitions included 
     artillery shells, rockets and bombs dropped from aircraft, 
     many of which had been sold to Israel years ago, one official 
     said.
       Before firing at rocket sites in towns and villages, the 
     Israeli report said, the Israeli military dropped leaflets 
     warning civilians of the attacks. The report, which has not 
     previously been disclosed, also noted that many of the 
     villages were deserted because civilians had fled the 
     fighting, the officials said.
       David Siegel, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in 
     Washington, said Israel ``provided a detailed response to the 
     administration's request for information'' on its use of 
     cluster munitions ``to halt Hezbollah's unprovoked rockets 
     attacks against our civilian populations centers.''
       He added, ``Israel suffered heavy casualties in these 
     attacks and acted as any government would in exercise of its 
     right to self-defense.''
       John Hillen, who was assistant secretary of state in charge 
     of the bureau until he resigned this month, told Bloomberg 
     News in December that Israel had provided ``great 
     cooperation'' in the investigation. ``From their perspective, 
     use of the munitions was clearly done within the 
     agreements,'' he said.
       Another administration official said the investigation had 
     caused ``head-butting'' involving the Bureau of Political-
     Military Affairs and the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at 
     the State Department, as well as Pentagon arms sales 
     officials. Some officials ``are trying to find a way to not 
     have to call this a substantial violation,'' the official 
     said.
       In particular, the State Department has asked Israel for 
     additional information on reports that commanders and troops 
     violated orders that restricted how cluster bombs could be 
     used, an official said. In November, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the 
     chief of staff of the Israeli military until his resignation 
     on Jan. 17, ordered an investigation into whether 
     restrictions on use of the weapons were ignored by some 
     units.
       That investigation is still under way, and military 
     officials have refused to divulge any details in public.
       Israel's Channel 2 television reported in December that the 
     military's judge advocate general was gathering evidence for 
     possible criminal charges against military officers who might 
     have ordered cluster bombs fired into populated areas.
       Israel has told the State Department that it originally 
     tried targeted strikes against Hezbollah rocket sites, but 
     those proved ineffective.
       Heavy use of cluster bombs was tried instead, to kill or 
     maim Hezbollah fighters manning the launchers. Israeli 
     commanders employed cluster weapons because they suspected 
     that they would flee after firing their rockets. Even those 
     attacks failed to stop the rockets barrages.
       The agreements that govern Israel's use of American cluster 
     munitions go back to the 1970s. But the details, which have 
     been revised several times, are classified.
       However, officials said that the agreements specified that 
     cluster weapons could not be used in populated areas, in part 
     because of the risk to civilians after a conflict is over if 
     the bomblets fail to self-destruct, as they are designed to 
     do.
       The agreements said the munitions be used only against 
     organized armies and clearly defined military targets under 
     conditions similar to the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973, 
     when Israel arguably faced threats to its survival, officials 
     said.

[[Page H4070]]

       Since the end oflast summer's war, de-mining team have 
     located 800 cluster-bomb strike areas, and they destroyed 
     95,000 bomblets, said Christopher Clark, program manager for 
     the United Nations Mine Action Service in Lebanon. ``We found 
     them pretty much everywhere--in villages, at road junctions, 
     in olive groves and on banana plantations,'' Mr. Clark said.
       The casualty rate has come down sharply, he said. Right 
     after the war, there were more than 40 casualties a week; now 
     it is about 3 or 4 a week.
       Donatella Rovera, a researcher with Amnesty International 
     in London, said older American cluster weapons used by Israel 
     during the war did not reliably self-destruct, compared with 
     Israel's own cluster munitions, which are newer and are said 
     to have a much lower dud rate.
       ``We've asked them to release detailed maps on where the 
     cluster bombs were used,'' Ms. Rovera said of the Israeli 
     military. ``That is the one thing that could help speed up 
     the cleanup process.''
                                  ____


                       [From Human Rights Watch]

Israeli Cluster Munitions Hit Civilians in Lebanon: Israel Must Not Use 
                         Indiscriminate Weapons

       Beirut, July 24, 2006.--Israel has used artillery-fired 
     cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon, Human Rights 
     Watch said today. Researchers on the ground in Lebanon 
     confirmed that a cluster munitions attack on the village of 
     Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least 12 
     civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch 
     researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the 
     arsenal of Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon 
     border.
       ``Cluster munitions are unacceptably inaccurate and 
     unreliable weapons when used around civilians,'' said Kenneth 
     Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. ``They should 
     never be used in populated areas.''
       According to eyewitnesses and survivors of the attack 
     interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Israel fired several 
     artillery-fired cluster munitions at Blida around 3 p.m. on 
     July 19. The witnesses described how the artillery shells 
     dropped hundreds of cluster submunitions on the village. They 
     clearly described the submunitions as smaller projectiles 
     that emerged from their larger shells.
       The cluster attack killed 60-year-old Maryam Ibrahim inside 
     her home. At least two submunitions from the attack entered 
     the basement that the Ali family was using as a shelter, 
     wounding 12 persons, including seven children. Ahmed Ali, a 
     45-year-old taxi driver and head of the family, lost both 
     legs from injuries caused by the cluster munitions. Five of 
     his children were wounded: Mira, 16; Fatima, 12; `Ali, 10; 
     Aya, 3; and `Ola, 1. His wife Akram Ibrahim, 35, and his 
     mother-in-law `Ola Musa, 80, were also wounded. Four 
     relatives, all German-Lebanese dual nationals sheltering with 
     the family, were wounded as well: Mohammed Ibrahim, 45; his 
     wife Fatima, 40; and their children `Ali, 16, and Rula, 13.
       Human Rights Watch researchers photographed artillery-
     delivered cluster munitions among the arsenal of Israel 
     Defense Forces (IDF) artillery teams stationed on the 
     Israeli-Lebanese border during a research visit on July 23. 
     The photographs show M483A1 Dual Purpose Improved 
     Conventional Munitions, which are U.S.-produced and -
     supplied, artillery-delivered cluster munitions. The 
     photographs contain the distinctive marks of such cluster 
     munitions, including a diamond-shaped stamp, and a shape that 
     is longer than ordinary artillery, according to a retired IDF 
     commander who asked not to be identified.
       The M483A1 artillery shells deliver 88 cluster submunitions 
     per shell, and have an unacceptably high failure rate (dud 
     rate) of 14 percent, leaving behind a serious unexploded 
     ordnance problem that will further endanger civilians. The 
     commander said that the IOF's operations manual warns 
     soldiers that the use of such cluster munitions creates 
     dangerous minefields due to the high dud rate.
       Lebanese security forces, who to date have not engaged in 
     the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, also accused 
     Israel of using cluster munitions in its attacks on Blida and 
     other Lebanese border villages. These sources also indicated 
     they have evidence that Israel used cluster munitions earlier 
     this year during fighting with Hezbollah around the contested 
     Shebaa Farms area. Human Rights Watch is continuing to 
     investigate these additional allegations.
       Human Rights Watch believes that the use of cluster 
     munitions in populated areas may violate the prohibition on 
     indiscriminate attacks contained in international 
     humanitarian law. The wide dispersal pattern of their 
     submunitions makes it very difficult to avoid civilian 
     casualties if civilians are in the area. Moreover, because of 
     their high failure rate, cluster munitions leave large 
     numbers of hazardous, explosive duds that injure and kill 
     civilians even after the attack is over. Human Rights Watch 
     believes that cluster munitions should never be used, even 
     away from civilians, unless their dud rate is less than 1 
     percent.
       Human Rights Watch conducted detailed analyses of the U.S. 
     military's use of cluster bombs in the 1999 Yugoslavia war, 
     the 2001-2002 Afghanistan war, and the 2003 Iraq war. Human 
     Rights Watch research established that the use of cluster 
     munitions in populated areas in Iraq caused more civilian 
     casualties than any other factor in the U.S.-led coalition's 
     conduct of major military operations in March and April 2003, 
     killing and wounding more than 1,000 Iraqi civilians. Roughly 
     a quarter of the 500 civilian deaths caused by NATO bombing 
     in the 1999 Yugoslavia war were also due to cluster 
     munitions.
       ``Our research in Iraq and Kosovo shows that cluster 
     munitions cannot be used in populated areas without huge loss 
     of civilian life,'' Roth said. ``Israel must stop using 
     cluster bombs in Lebanon at once.''
       Human Rights Watch called upon the Israel Defense Forces to 
     immediately cease the use of indiscriminate weapons like 
     cluster munitions in Lebanon.


                               background

       Israel used cluster munitions in Lebanon in 1978 and in the 
     1980s. At that time, the United States placed restrictions on 
     their use and then a moratorium on the transfer of cluster 
     munitions to Israel out of concern for civilian casualties. 
     Those weapons used more than two decades ago continue to 
     affect Lebanon.
       Israel has in its arsenal cluster munitions delivered by 
     aircraft, artillery and rockets. Israel is a major producer 
     and exporter of cluster munitions, primarily artillery 
     projectiles and rockets containing M85 DPICM (Dual Purpose 
     Improved Conventional Munition) submunitions. Israeli 
     Military Industries, an Israeli government-owned weapons 
     manufacturer, has reportedly produced more than 60 million 
     M85 DPICM submunitions. Israel also produces at least six 
     different types of air-dropped cluster bombs, and has 
     imported from the United States M26 rockets for its Multiple 
     Launch Rocket Systems.
       There is growing international momentum to stop the use of 
     cluster munitions. Belgium became the first country to ban 
     cluster munitions in February 2006, and Norway announced a 
     moratorium on the weapon in June 2006. Cluster munitions are 
     increasingly the focus of discussion at the meetings of the 
     Convention on Conventional Weapons, with ever more states 
     calling for a new international instrument dealing with 
     cluster munitions.
                                  ____


                [From the New York Times, Aug. 25, 2006]

             Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs

                          (By David S. Cloud)

       Washington, Aug. 24.--The State Department is investigating 
     whether Israel's use of American-made cluster bombs in 
     southern Lebanon violated secret agreements with the United 
     States that restrict when it can employ such weapons, two 
     officials said.
       The investigation by the department's Office of Defense 
     Trade Controls began this week, after reports that three 
     types of American cluster munitions, anti-personnel weapons 
     that spray bomblets over a wide area, have been found in many 
     areas of southern Lebanon and were responsible for civilian 
     casualties.
       Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, said, ``We 
     have heard the allegations that these munitions were used, 
     and we are seeking more information.'' He declined to comment 
     further.
       Several current and former officials said that they doubted 
     the investigation would lead to sanctions against Israel but 
     that the decision to proceed with it might be intended to 
     help the Bush administration ease criticism from Arab 
     governments and commentators over its support of Israel's 
     military operations. The investigation has not been publicly 
     announced; the State Department confirmed it in response to 
     questions.
       In addition to investigating use of the weapons in southern 
     Lebanon, the State Department has held up a shipment of M-26 
     artillery rockets, a cluster weapon, that Israel sought 
     during the conflict, the officials said.
       The inquiry is likely to focus on whether Israel properly 
     informed the United States about its use of the weapons and 
     whether targets were strictly military. So far, the State 
     Department is relying on reports from United Nations 
     personnel and nongovernmental organizations in southern 
     Lebanon, the officials said.
       David Siegel, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy, said, 
     ``We have not been informed about any such inquiry, and when 
     we are we would be happy to respond.''
       Officials were granted anonymity to discuss the 
     investigation because it involves sensitive diplomatic issues 
     and agreements that have been kept secret for years.
       The agreements that govern Israel's use of American cluster 
     munitions go back to the 1970's, when the first sales of the 
     weapons occurred, but the details of them have never been 
     publicly confirmed. The first one was signed in 1976 and 
     later reaffirmed in 1978 after an Israeli incursion into 
     Lebanon. News accounts over the years have said that they 
     require that the munitions be used only against organized 
     Arab armies and clearly defined military targets under 
     conditions similar to the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973.
       A Congressional investigation after Israel's 1982 invasion 
     of Lebanon found that Israel had used the weapons against 
     civilian areas in violation of the agreements. In response, 
     the Reagan administration imposed a six-year ban on further 
     sales of cluster weapons to Israel.
       Israeli officials acknowledged soon after their offensive 
     began last month that they were using cluster munitions 
     against rocket sites and other military targets. While 
     Hezbollah positions were frequently hidden in civilian areas, 
     Israeli officials said their,

[[Page H4071]]

     intention was to use cluster bombs in open terrain.
       Bush administration officials warned Israel to avoid 
     civilian casualties, but they have lodged no public protests 
     against its use of cluster weapons. American officials say it 
     has not been not clear whether the weapons, which are also 
     employed by the United States military, were being used 
     against civilian areas and had been supplied by the United 
     States. Israel also makes its own types of cluster weapons.
       But a report released Wednesday by the United Nations Mine 
     Action Coordination Center, which has personnel in Lebanon 
     searching for unexploded ordnance, said it had found 
     unexploded bomblets, including hundreds of American types, in 
     249 locations south of the Litani River.
       The report said American munitions found included 559 M-
     42's, an anti-personnel bomblet used in 105-millimeter 
     artillery shells; 663 M-77's, a submunition found in M-26 
     rockets; and 5 BLU-63's, a bomblet found in the CBU-26 
     cluster bomb. Also found were 608 M-85's, an Israeli-made 
     submunition.
       The unexploded submunitions being found in Lebanon are 
     probably only a fraction of the total number dropped. Cluster 
     munitions can contain dozens or even hundreds of submunitions 
     designed to explode as they scatter around a wide area. They 
     are very effective against rocket-launcher units or ground 
     troops.
       The Lebanese government has reported that the conflict 
     killed 1,183 people and wounded 4,054, most of them 
     civilians. The United Nations reported this week that the 
     number of civilian casualties in Lebanon from cluster 
     munitions, land mines and unexploded bombs stood at 30 
     injured and eight killed.
       Dozen of Israelis were killed and hundreds wounded in 
     attacks by Hezbollah rockets, some of which were loaded with 
     ball bearings to maximize their lethality.
       Officials say it is unlikely that Israel will be found to 
     have violated a separate agreement, the Arms Export Control 
     Act, which requires foreign governments that receive American 
     weapons to use them for legitimate self-defense. Proving that 
     Israel's campaign against Hezbollah did not constitute self-
     defense would be difficult, especially in view of President 
     Bush's publicly announced support for Israel's action after 
     Hezbollah fighters attacked across the border, the officials 
     said.
       Even if Israel is found to have violated the classified 
     agreement covering cluster bombs, it is not clear what 
     actions the United States might take.
       In 1982, delivery of cluster-bomb shells to Israel was 
     suspended a month after Israel invaded Lebanon after the 
     Reagan administration determined that Israel ``may'' have 
     used them against civilian areas.
       But the decision to impose what amounted to a indefinite 
     moratorium was made under pressure from Congress, which 
     conducted a long investigation of the issue. Israel and the 
     United States reaffirmed restrictions on the use of cluster 
     munitions in 1988, and the Reagan administration lifted the 
     moratorium.

  I also want to ask for this moment when we are talking about the use 
of human shields to remember that certainly the people of Israel 
suffered, and my wife and I visited Israel and we talked to government 
officials who were concerned about the threat to Israel's security that 
was presented by Hezbollah.

                              {time}  1200

  But I also have to say that the use of cluster munitions and the use 
of bombs against the people of Lebanon needs to be recognized at this 
point. I could stand here, certainly, objecting, and I do, to 
Hezbollah's conduct, because we know what they did in creating 
conditions to use people in populated areas was wrong.
  But I also think that it's important to call to the attention of this 
Congress the suffering of the people in Lebanon, because what happened 
was that bombs were dropped and perhaps over 1,000 people were killed. 
That needs to be discussed. We also need to recognize that the people 
of Lebanon have a love for America despite our Government's actions in 
standing back.
  Let me share with you a story out of Qana that my wife and I visited. 
We went there late at night, and there was destruction everywhere. We 
were led to a graveyard where people had their families buried as a 
result of a U.S. attack. Then we were led to the site of where a bomb 
fragment or a bomb burst through an apartment building, and it killed 
dozens of people. It was thought that bomb was paid for by U.S. tax 
dollars.
  The people who gathered around late at night from the village, 
knowing there was an American Congressman there, spoke out and said, 
you know, we love America. We don't like what your leaders do, but we 
love America. We do not wish anyone ill in America, and we want peace. 
We don't want Israel to be destroyed. This was made very clear. These 
were people who from the depths of their humanity were crying out for 
recognition about their suffering.
  Madam Speaker, this is a fragment of the bomb which burst through an 
apartment building and killed dozens of women and children. I wanted to 
just show Congress this, because what we are talking about, using 
people as human shields, it's important also for the Israeli Government 
to take responsibilities for their actions as well. I say this as 
someone who speaks in defense of Israel and the defense of Israel's 
right to survive.
  If we are going to ever have peace in the region, there has to be a 
mutual recognition of everyone's right to survive, and opportunity for 
all people to be able to bring their grievances forward and have them 
resolved.
  I appreciate my friend's opportunity to present this.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa).
  (Mr. ISSA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 125 and 
join with my colleagues in denouncing Hezbollah for employing the use 
and the tactic of placing weapons, defensive and offensive, in the 
midst of communities in which innocent civilians live.
  I also associate myself with the previous speaker, though, in saying 
that we have to go beyond a narrow issue of a single enemy in the 
Middle East. The use of human shields in the Middle East is 
unfortunately widespread, not just by the cancer that grows, that is 
known as Hezbollah in Lebanon, but also throughout the region.
  On this point, I would like to give credit where credit is due. These 
pictures were taken, this one was taken in 2004, where a 13-year-old 
Palestinian boy named Mohammed Badwan was tied to the hood of an 
Israeli police jeep in the West Bank. A group of Palestinian youths had 
been reportedly throwing rocks at Israeli police, so the boy was taken 
and tied to the jeep so that they would stop throwing their rocks.
  On October 6, and I want to give credit where credit is due, because 
this has not been unanswered, on October 6, 2005, the Israel High Court 
of Justice, the equivalent of our Supreme Court, ruled that it was 
illegal for Israeli forces to use Palestinian civilians during military 
operations. This ruling effectively ended the officially sanctioned 
tactic known as neighborhood procedure, whereby Israeli soldiers would 
forcibly use Palestinian civilians for tasks, including entering 
buildings to check to see if they were booby-trapped, removing building 
occupants, and moving suspicious objects from roads used by the army.
  One of the victims of this neighborhood procedure was a 19-year-old 
Palestinian student who in 2002 was killed in the West Bank after 
troops took the young man out of his house and forced him to knock on 
the door of a neighboring building, where a senior Hamas fugitive was 
hiding. Gunfire erupted, and the student was killed.
  In addition to the Israeli Supreme Court, human rights group have 
also been recognized for their work, and I commend them. B'Tselem, 
Rabbis for Human Rights, and Adalah have worked extensively on these 
cases and brought them to the court. To the credit of the Israeli 
people and their court system, they have denounced it, and they have 
sought to stop it.
  The Israeli Army itself, most recently, acted swiftly to suspend a 
commander caught on videotape using two Palestinian youths as human 
shields earlier this month. In the video that has been seen around the 
world and covered by the Associated Press, a peace activist is heard 
shouting to the Israeli soldiers who have positioned two youths 
standing in front of their vehicle, ``You can't use them as human 
shields. It's against the law.''
  The Israeli soldier responds, ``We are not using them as a human 
shield.''
  ``They are standing in front of your jeep. How is that not a human 
shield? You are using them to protect you from stones,'' the activist 
retorts.
  ``We asked them to speak to their friends and ask them to stop 
throwing stones at us,'' the soldier says.
  Shortly after this videotape was posted, the Israeli military 
announced

[[Page H4072]]

the mission commander had been relieved of operational duty following 
this incident, in which IDF soldiers had apparently used these 
civilians, and the Israeli Government acted quickly.
  I applaud their swift response and their efforts to make this use of 
human shields, once and for all, stop. This morning I circulated a Dear 
Colleague via e-mail with links to these videos and news stories.
  I encourage my colleagues to take a look at these articles and 
efforts under way to stop the use of human shields. I have also issued 
statements that are on my Web site at www.issa.house.gov under the 
heading of ``Banning the use of Human Shields.''
  Madam Speaker, I believe there are two sides to this. There is a 
difference. One side is continuing to be a cancer on the people of 
Lebanon. One side is continuing to use human shields with very little 
to stop them. The other side is taking those measures.
  I came here today to commend the Israeli Government for taking those 
measures, to ask them to continue to use the strongest methods possible 
to make sure that is eliminated from one side of the equation. I will 
support this resolution denouncing the other side of the equation that 
continues to use human shields.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume.
  To my good friend from California, as well as my good friend from 
Ohio, I would address the following observations and concerns. First, I 
would like to thank each of them for their support for this resolution 
condemning Hezbollah for their actions.
  But I would like to note for the record that there is a tremendous 
difference between a perpetrator and a victim. A perpetrator is the one 
who initiates the act. The victim is the one who is victimized by the 
act. Very often, in an act of violence, murder, mayhem, the victim 
fights back. The victim has every single right in the world, legally 
and morally, to defend itself against violence. Some might argue 
sometimes that in defense of oneself, the victim goes too far. The 
woman being raped tries to scratch out the eyes of the rapist. Who is 
to blame her?
  I thank my two friends for also pointing out that there is a 
difference in systems, that there is a difference in moral values 
between that which the Hezbollah does and the response of the Israelis. 
I appreciated the fact that the gentleman from Ohio brought in part of 
a weapon of destruction that was used in self-defense, but I am also 
happy that we did not bring in gory pictures of Israeli children and 
women on their way to school or working on farms or in their villages, 
who every day are subject to attacks and missiles fired by Hezbollah as 
they go about their daily, innocent lives.
  I thank the gentleman from California for calling to the House's 
attention in so eloquent a way of what is rarely government and 
governance and society and what Israel is all about, who points out 
graphically and with the evidence he brought before us the fact that it 
was an Israeli human rights defender who called out to the Israeli 
soldiers whose conduct he properly called into question, that they have 
no right to do that and that there are laws against it.
  Where were the Lebanese people calling out to the Hezbollah who 
invaded their homes and their neighborhoods and took over and used 
them, sometimes willingly, sometimes not, as human shields, and said to 
them, we forbid you to do this, it's against our human rights, and it's 
against our laws? Not once.
  I thank the gentleman from California for pointing out the Israeli 
system of justice, which stands basically equal to ours. We, too, in 
the pursuit of terrorists and evildoers, as the President would call 
them, sometimes unfortunately commit acts in that pursuit and in 
defense of ourselves against the terrorists, where civilians are hurt 
and civilians do die. But that is not our purpose. When the Hezbollah 
does that, that is their intention for the civilians to die.
  I thank the gentleman from California for pointing out that this went 
through the Israeli justice system because it is contrary to the laws 
of the democracy of the democratic State of Israel. It went to the 
Supreme Court of Israel, and that court found, in full view, because 
Israeli television shows showed their soldiers doing something wrong, 
and they were charged, and the court found them guilty, and the court 
banned it.
  People were held responsible in a responsible society. That did not 
happen with the Hezbollah. That did not happen in Lebanon. It happened 
in Israel where people paid the price, where the military officers who 
were in charge of the operation were found guilty.
  That is the difference between a democratic, humane society, where 
there are innocent victims of self-defense, who unfortunately, as 
individuals within the military, sometimes get carried away. That 
happens in every army in the history of the world. But holding people 
responsible for those individual actions is a sign of a true democracy.
  That did not happen with the Hezbollah. That did not happen with 
Lebanon. That is the difference between democratic, humane societies 
and terrorist organizations.

                              {time}  1215

  I thank our two colleagues for bringing this to the attention of the 
House so that we might highlight the differences between two societies, 
Hezbollah, governed by terror, whose only purpose is to wreak havoc 
upon civilian populations, and a democracy like Israel, who responds to 
terrorism and sometimes have unfortunate incidents for which they hold 
individuals responsible and who pay the price.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House 
Resolution 125, championed by Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Dr. 
Boozman and Mr. Ackerman, which opposes using civilians as human 
shields.
  As a member of the Armed Services Committee, as a 31-year veteran of 
the Army Reserves and National Guard, and as the father of four sons in 
the U.S. military, I know firsthand that using human shields violates 
international law.
  Just last year, American and international leaders condemned the use 
of human shields. The Lebanese have been particularly victims of human 
shields in the past year. On August 11, 2006, Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice stated, ``Hezbollah and its sponsors have brought 
devastation upon the people of Lebanon, dragging them into a war that 
they did not choose and exploiting them as human shields.''
  On August 14, President George W. Bush stated, ``Hezbollah terrorists 
targeted Israeli civilians with daily rocket attacks. Hezbollah 
terrorists used Lebanese civilians as human shields, sacrificing the 
innocent in an effort to protect themselves from Israeli response.''
  Also, as to Israel, we should note that the Israeli Supreme Court has 
ruled a ban to the use of human shields. Additionally, Israel has a 
strict policy against the use of civilians as human shields, and in 
dealing with the isolated incidents where the policy is violated, takes 
measure to punish those responsible and prevent these acts from 
occurring in the future.
  It is clear, as eloquently reviewed by Mr. Ackerman, that no one 
should seek to apply a moral equivalency between isolated incidents 
formally opposed by Israel's democratically elected government and the 
actions of Hezbollah, whose policies and tactics show disregard for 
human life and advocate intentionally using the tactic of embedding its 
forces among civilians to use them as human shields, abusing the people 
of Lebanon.
  I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 125, condemning the 
use of human shields.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Weldon).
  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and I 
commend my colleagues for bringing this important legislation to the 
floor.
  It was obvious, I think, to all people watching the news coverage 
during the recent Hezbollah-Israel war that it was standard operating 
procedure for Hezbollah to place its soldiers that were firing rockets 
into Israel, in housing projects, in housing areas where there were 
civilians, and the only way

[[Page H4073]]

that Israel could respond to that rocket fire involved risking the 
lives of the women and children who lived in those areas. It was 
disgraceful and it was a violation of international law. And to me it 
is absolutely ridiculous that Hezbollah would find some photo of a 
bunch of Palestinian youths leaning on a tank and try to make an 
argument in front of the world stage that that is the moral equivalent 
of what they were doing. There is absolutely no comparison.
  Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to commend my colleague from New York and 
people on both sides of the aisle for bringing forward this important 
piece of legislation.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, last summer, Hezbollah militants kidnapped 
two Israeli soldiers and instigated an armed conflict in which they 
indiscriminately fired thousands of rockets and mortar shells into 
Israel with the hope of inflicting as many civilian casualties as 
possible.
  And what was most disturbing about Hezbollah's actions was not that 
they targeted innocent men, women, and children with their attacks--the 
world has come to expect such cowardly tactics from terrorist 
organizations that are dedicated to inflicting anguish and destruction.
  Rather, it was the fact that Hezbollah embedded their equipment and 
bases of operations amid the Lebanese civilian population--effectively 
using them as ``human shields'' to protect them from retaliation.
  This brutal exploitation of a civilian population--and others like it 
that take place all too often in areas controlled by Hezbollah and 
Hamas--stands in direct violation of international humanitarian law and 
laws of war during armed conflict.
  Today, I am proud to join with my fellow Members of Congress in 
condemning the use of human shields in armed conflict--and I stand with 
all of the people of the world who understand that the role of a 
soldier is to protect civilians, not exploit them for security or 
political gain.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of 
the resolution condemning Hezbollah's frequent use of civilians to 
protect their military forces and cache of weapons. All too often we 
hear claims that Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces are moral 
equivalents. But when we look at the facts, we see that Hezbollah 
constantly demonstrates that it is a force that does not operate under 
the international treaties that attempt to govern warfare.
  Hezbollah has set up shop in southern Lebanon and, while they attempt 
to participate in the legal process of that nation, they are not under 
the control of any government. They use the funds of Iran and Syria to 
act as their proxies in the fight against Israel. There is little 
dispute that they store much of their military equipment below civilian 
houses and during the most recent conflict their military leadership 
holed up in bunkers filled with non-combatants.
  Hezbollah fights their wars in the international press as much as 
they fight them in the battlefield. Sadly, civilian deaths are seen as 
a victory since they can use the cry of war atrocities to keep the 
Israelis from engaging their forces.
  On the other side we see Israeli forces who clearly identify their 
military personnel by uniform and delineate their military 
installations from civilian. Yet, Hezbollah still chooses to 
indiscriminately shoot their rockets into principally civilian areas.
  Hezbollah operates far outside the bounds of international law, 
something we must not forget as we seek to control them through 
international bodies such as the United Nations. With no regard for the 
lives of their own nationals, can we expect them to hold up their end 
of Security Council resolutions? We must stand with the legitimate 
government of Israel, a shining light of democracy and freedom besieged 
by those with no respect for law or life.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on our side, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. McNulty). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 125, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  The title of the resolution was amended so as to read: ``Resolution 
expressing deep concern over the use of civilians as `human shields' in 
violation of international humanitarian law, including Hezbollah's 
tactic of embedding its forces among civilians to use them as human 
shields during the summer of 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and the 
State of Israel.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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