Amnesty International: verdict first, evidence later?
To read the original article, click here.
[Excerpt:]
“NGO Monitor points out that the army report wasn’t released to Amnesty, and there is no indication in Amnesty’s press release that anyone at Amnesty actually read the army report before condemning it as "scandalous" and a "so-called investigation." The press release itself suggests that Amnesty was indifferent to the content of the army report, because it was not the product of an independent investigation.
Early yesterday morning, I emailed Amnesty’s press contact for the Middle East, Nicole Choueiry, and introduced myself as blogger for the Volokh Conspiracy. I forwarded the NGO Watch link, and asked if she "could confirm or deny that Amnesty wrote its press release without having access to the full report the Israeli army made on the incident?" I also asked "whether the basis for the underlying press release by Amnesty was a specific critique of the Israeli report on the incident, or was part of a general critique of Israel for not conducting independent investigations of civilian deaths in Gaza." (In other words, would Amnesty automatically condemn any report, no matter how thorough, issued by the Israeli army, because it was issued by the Israeli army).
A few hours later Ms. Choueiry responded that she would get back to me with a detailed response shortly. I haven’t heard back, but will let readers know if and when I do.”