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The Kahan Commission (וועדת כאהן), formally known as the Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut, was established by the Israeli government on 28 September, 1982, to investigate the Sabra and Shatila Massacre (16-18 September, 1982). The Kahan Commission was chaired by the President of the Supreme Court, Yitzhak Kahan. Its other two members were Supreme Court Judge Aharon Barak, and Major-General (res.) Yona Erfat. The Commission was to make recommendations on Israeli involvement in the massacare through an investigation of:
- [A]ll the facts and factors connected with the atrocity carried out by a unit of the Lebanese Forces against the civilian population in the Shatilla and Sabra camps.
Following its investigation, on 8 February, 1983, the Kahan Commission submitted its report. It concluded that direct responsibility rested with the Jemayel Phalangists led by Fadi Frem. Israeli forces were deemed indirectly responsible. Defence Minister, Ariel Sharon, was found to be personally responsible. Sharon's negligence (that is, complacency not complicity, the Commission maintained) amounted to a non-fulfillment of a duty with which the Defense Minister was charged, and it was recommended that Sharon be dismissed as Defence Minister, which he was. The Commission arrived to similar conclusions with respect to Chief of Staff, Lt.-General Rafael Eitan (tantamount to a breach of duty that was incumbent upon the Chief of Staff), as well as Director of Military Intelligence, Major-General Yehoshua Saguy, and other Intelligence officials — though the Mossad was not reprimanded and parts of the report commenting on its role remain under military censorship. Critics of the Commission point to its limited scope, some of whom argue it amounted to a whitewash.
References
- The Beirut Massacre: the Complete Kahan Commission Report. Karz-Cohl, Princeton, NJ, 1983. (ISBN 0943828554)
External links
- Report of the Kahan Commission (http://www.caabu.org/press/documents/kahan-commission-contents.html)- hosted by the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding.
- Report of the Kahan Commission (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1982-1984/104%20Report%20of%20the%20Commission%20of%20Inquiry%20into%20the%20e) - hosted by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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