It’s about 10 years too late but still a good thing to see, even if it’s only happening now because Arafat’s star is on the wane. Human Rights Watch has finally come out with an unequivocal condemnation of suicide bombings—and it even puts the “political responsibility” for them squarely on the shoulders of the world’s most decrepit terrorist.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A U.S.-based human rights watchdog accused Yasser Arafat Friday of “political responsibility” for Palestinian suicide bombings against Israeli civilians and condemned such attacks as crimes against humanity.

Human Rights Watch said that while its investigation found no evidence to support Israel’s charges that Arafat had orchestrated attacks, the Palestinian leadership was at fault for failing to rein in and punish militants behind the bombings.

“Arafat and the Palestinian Authority bear a high degree of political responsibility for the atrocities that occurred,” Kenneth Roth, the rights group’s executive director, said in a statement marking the release of a report on suicide bombings.

It called on Palestinian officials to make a serious effort to arrest and prosecute those who plan and carry out attacks, and urged Israel to assist by halting strikes that have crippled the Palestinians’ security infrastructure.

The group, which in previous reports has accused Israel’s army of rights abuses against Palestinians waging a two-year-old uprising, appealed to Israel to abide by international humanitarian norms in its military response to bombings.

But Human Rights Watch reserved its sharpest criticism for militant groups — including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Arafat’s Fatah movement — for attacks that have killed scores of Israelis.

“The people who carry out suicide bombings are not martyrs, they’re war criminals,” Roth said. “They clearly fall under the category of crimes against humanity.”

Human Rights Watch also called for criminal investigation of officials such as Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin whom it said “openly espoused, encouraged or endorsed” attacks.

They still ignore the mountain of evidence that Arafat is directly responsible for the terror war against Israel. But this is a big step in a very belated right direction.