DOCSLIB.ORG

Promoting Impunity: the Israeli Military’S Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Promoting Impunity: the Israeli Military’S Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing Human Rights Watch June 2005 Vol. 17, No. 7(E) Promoting Impunity: The Israeli Military’s Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing Summary......................................................................................................................................... 1 Recommendations....................................................................................................................... 10 To the Government of Israel................................................................................................10 Use of Force........................................................................................................................10 Accountability .....................................................................................................................11 I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 14 About This Report..................................................................................................................16 II. Why Investigate?.................................................................................................................... 17 Legal Obligations ....................................................................................................................18 International Humanitarian Law......................................................................................19 International Human Rights Law.....................................................................................22 What Makes a Good Investigation?.....................................................................................24 III. Israel’s Investigations Policy............................................................................................... 28 IDF Arguments.......................................................................................................................35 IV. Overview of the Military Justice System........................................................................... 38 Disciplinary Proceedings........................................................................................................39 Operational Debriefings ........................................................................................................40 Military Police/Criminal Investigations...............................................................................43 The Criminal Investigation Division of the Military Police .............................................46 Special Investigations .............................................................................................................48 V. “Lowest Priority”: Deaths of Palestinian Civilians........................................................... 49 Reluctance to Investigate.......................................................................................................50 Munib Abu Munshar..........................................................................................................52 Nidal Abu Muhsin..............................................................................................................54 Investigations without Standards..........................................................................................57 Ahmad al-Quraini...............................................................................................................57 Ruwaida al-Hajin.................................................................................................................58 Ignored or Lost .......................................................................................................................61 Tha’ir, Mustafa, and Iyad al-Samudi ................................................................................61 Husni `Amir.........................................................................................................................65 Nuha al-Muqadama............................................................................................................67 The Killing of Nahla `Aqil and Injury of Her Three Children....................................70 VI: Foreign Pressure: Special Treatment................................................................................. 72 Tom Hurndall..........................................................................................................................73 Shadin Abu Hijla.....................................................................................................................78 James Miller .............................................................................................................................84 Brian Avery ..............................................................................................................................87 Rachel Corrie ...........................................................................................................................90 The “Operational Investigation”......................................................................................93 The Military Police Investigation .....................................................................................96 VII. Denial of Justice.................................................................................................................. 98 The Role of “Operational Investigations”..........................................................................99 Timeliness ..............................................................................................................................102 Obtaining Testimony............................................................................................................103 Witness Fears ....................................................................................................................106 Jenin – Cases of Human Shields ....................................................................................107 Treatment of Witnesses...................................................................................................109 Case of Ahmad and Jamil Abu `Aziz ............................................................................109 Good Faith?.......................................................................................................................110 Lack of Transparency and Victim Involvement ..............................................................112 Hamid al-Qut ....................................................................................................................114 Lack of Compensation.........................................................................................................115 Appendix A: Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra- legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions.............................................................................117 Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................122 Summary In May 2005, an Israeli military court convicted a soldier of “severe intentional harm” to a civilian and sentenced him to twenty months in prison. The soldier was charged with shooting an unarmed Palestinian man in the southern Gaza town of Rafah in October 2003. This was, as the Israeli daily Ha’aretz observed, “the harshest punishment imposed on an IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldier in the four and a half years of fighting in the territories.”1 That same month, on May 19, 2005, the IDF announced that it had opened a Military Police (mezah) investigation into the May 4 shooting deaths of two Palestinian teenagers in the West Bank town of Beit Lakia. The teenagers were among a large group that reportedly threw stones at bulldozers Israel was using to construct a metal and concrete barrier, or wall, in the West Bank.2 The IDF had suspended the officer who opened fire the day after the incident. As one experienced journalist wrote, “Such a swift acknowledgement by the military of improper behavior in the fatal shooting of Palestinians is rare.”3 It remains unclear if these two developments represent a change in IDF policies regarding unlawful use of force resulting in deaths and serious injury to Palestinian civilians. Those policies until now have been characterized by inaction and cover-up. Such a change would therefore be most welcome. In recent months several high-profile killings have drawn Israeli and international attention to the army’s failure to conduct thorough and impartial investigations where there is credible evidence of unlawful use of force against civilians—none more so than the October 5, 2004, incident in which Givati Brigade soldiers shot a thirteen-year-old Gaza schoolgirl. An internal IDF debriefing immediately after the incident found that 1 Amos Harel, “Soldier who fired at unarmed Palestinian sentenced to 20 months in prison,” Ha’aretz, May 18, 2005 [online]. According to the statement on the IDF website, the maximum prison sentence for inflicting “severe intentional harm” is twenty years (“IDF Soldier Convicted in Rafah Incident,” available at www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/mainpage.asp?si=EN&id=7&clr=1&docid=39891.EN). 2 Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, “Beit Latakia boys killed in IDF ambush, Palestinians claim,” Ha’aretz, May 20, 2005 [online]. Harel and Regular wrote in conclusion: “The Beit Lakia incident is not unusual. Every day, soldiers and border police officers
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Pia Jansen Phd Thesis.Pdf
    THE CONSEQUENCES OF ISRAEL’S COUNTER TERRORISM POLICY Pia Therese Jansen A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St. Andrews 2008 Full metadata for this item is available in the St Andrews Digital Research Repository at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/439 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License The Consequences of Israel’s Counter Terrorism Policy Pia Therese Jansen Degree of PhD at University of St. Andrews Submitted on May the 25 th 2007 I, Pia Therese Jansen, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately ………..words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. Date …………………. Signature of candidate …………………………………….. I was admitted as a research student in ……….. and as a candidate for the degree of PhD in ……..; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St. Andrews between ……….. Date …………………. Signature of candidate …………………………………….. I herby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St. Andrews, and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date …………………. Signature of supervisor …………………………………….. In submitting this thesis to the University of St. Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for the use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby.
    [Show full text]
  • Shielded from Accountability
    Shielded From Accountability Israel's Unwillingness to Investigate and Prosecute International Crimes September 2011 N° 572a FIDH member organizations in Israel and Palestine Adalah- The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel 94 Yaffa Street P.O. Box 8921 Haifa 31090 Israel Tel: +972-4-950-1610 / Fax: +972-4-950-3140 Email: [email protected] http://www.adalah.org ACRI- Association for Civil Rights in Israel Nahalat Binyamin 75 Tel Aviv 65154 Israel Tel: 972-3-5608185 / Fax: 972-3-5608165 E-Mail: [email protected] http://www.acri.org.il B'Tselem- The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories P.O. Box 53132 Jerusalem 91531 Tel: +972-2-6735599 / Fax: +972-2-6749111 Email: [email protected] www.btselem.org PCATI- The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel P.O. Box 4634 Jerusalem 91046 Tel: +972-2-6429825 / Fax: +972-2-6432847 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.stoptorture.org.il Al Haq- P.O. Box 1413 Ramallah - West Bank Tel: +970 -2-2954646 / Fax: +970-2 2954903 www.alhaq.org PCHR- The Palestinian Center for Human Rights 29 Omar El Mukhtar Street Gaza City P.O. Box 1328 Tel: +970-8-2824-776 / Fax: +970- 8-2825-893 Email: [email protected] www.pchrgaza.org Introduction Israel is assigned the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute war crimes allegations committed by the Israeli Military in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Under international law, these investigations must be independent, effective, prompt and impartial.1 According to the principle of complementarity, set forth
    [Show full text]
  • Download This Report
    A LICENSE TO KILL Israeli Operations against "Wanted" and Masked Palestinians A Middle East Watch Report Human Rights Watch New York !!! Washington !!! Los Angeles !!! London Copyright 8 July 1993 by Human Rights Watch. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 93-79007 ISBN: 1-56432-109-6 Middle East Watch Middle East Watch was founded in 1989 to establish and promote observance of internationally recognized human rights in the Middle East. The chair of Middle East Watch is Gary Sick and the vice chairs are Lisa Anderson and Bruce Rabb. Andrew Whitley is the executive director; Eric Goldstein is the research director; Virginia N. Sherry and Aziz Abu Hamad are associate directors; Suzanne Howard is the associate. HUMAHUMAHUMANHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses in some sixty countries around the world. It addresses the human rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. In internal wars it documents violations by both governments and rebel groups. Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process of law and equal protection of the law; it documents and denounces murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, exile, censorship and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of Helsinki Watch by a group of publishers, lawyers and other activists and now maintains offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Moscow, Belgrade, Zagreb and Hong Kong.
    [Show full text]
  • Shot in the Head
    If Americans Knew Gabrielle Giffords, Tom Hurndall and Palestinian Children Shot in the Head By Alison Weir, Executive Director of If Americans Knew, January 14, 2011 here is something particularly horrifying when someone house. Yaser, 11, died of head wounds from an IDF rubber-coat- is shot in the head. Perhaps it’s the gruesome image, the ed bullet fired at close range during a demonstration…1 Tdestruction of the brain, the clear intent to kill. The Imagine if these names were Bobby… Michael… Susan... recent shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Melissa… Jimmy… and that the foreign troops killing them is made even more nightmarish by the location of her devastat- were invading Arizona, Connecticut, Ohio... ing injury. I remember seeing one little brain-dead boy when I was in Those of us who focus on Israel-Palestine are acutely aware Gaza in February of 2001; long before any rockets had been of this horror. fired out of this already assaulted enclave. It’s not a sight you Several years ago, I was researching the cause of death of forget, regardless of the name or nationality. Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces during the first A 2009 article in the UK Telegraph entitled “Bullets in the months of the Second Intifadah, the Palestinian uprising against brain, shrapnel in the spine: the terrible injuries suffered by chil- Israeli occupation. As I counted up the numbers, I was chilled dren of Gaza,” investigated a situation in which doctors at a to discover that the single most frequent cause of death in those hospital near Gaza were “almost overwhelmed by the number beginning months was “gunfire to the head.” of Palestinian children needing treatment for bullet wounds to In the past 10 years Israeli forces have killed at least 255 their heads.”2 Palestinian minors by fire to the head, and the number may The article began: “On just one day last week staff at the El- actually be greater, since in many instances the specific bodily Arish hospital in Sinai were called to perform sophisticated location of the lethal trauma is unlisted.
    [Show full text]
  • Despite Pandemic, Israeli Forces Drop Herbicide on Gaza and Shoot at Fishermen
    Despite pandemic, Israeli forces drop herbicide on Gaza and shoot at fishermen NewsKate on April 11, 2020 0 Comments Gaza fish market. (Photo: Mohammed Assad) Gaza PCHR: In new Israeli violation, Israeli naval forces wound 2 fishermen in northern Gaza sea BEIT LAHIA 9 Apr — Israeli naval forces continue their attacks against Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Sea preventing them from sailing and fishing freely, accessing the zones rich in fish, despite the fact that fishermen posed no threat to the lives of Israeli naval forces deployed in Gaza waters … According to the investigations of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 07:50 on Thursday, 09 April 2020, Israeli gunboats stationed northwest of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Strip chased Palestinian fishing boats sailing within the allowed fishing area (3 nautical miles) and opened fire at a fishing boat. As a result, two fishermen, Obai ‘Adel Mohamed Jarbou‘ (21) and Ahmed ‘Abed al-Fattah Ahmed al-Sharfi (23), were shot and injured with rubber-coated steel bullets. The young men, from al-Shati’ [‘Beach’] camp in Gaza City, were taken to the Indonesian Hospital, where their injuries were classified as minor. It should be noted that Israeli gunboats conduct daily chases of Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip, and open fire at them in order to terrify them and prevent them from sailing and accessing the zones rich in fish. The latest Israeli naval forces’ attack was on Wednesday, 08 April 2020, as Israeli gunboats stationed northwest of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Strip, chased Palestinian fishing boats sailing within the allowed fishing area (3 nautical miles) and opened fire at a fishing boat.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction 1 Reporting from the Ruins: the End of the British
    Notes Introduction 1. Hass (2014). 2. Shindler (2013), p. 246. 3. Gringras (2010). 1 Reporting from the Ruins: The End of the British Mandate and the Creation of the State of Israel 1. Hobsbawm (1995), p.32. 2. Shepherd(1999), p.5. 3. Hollingworth(1990), p. 141. 4. Ibid. 5. Board(1946a), p.1. 6.Hollingworth(1990), p. 141. 7. For example, Shepherd(1999), p. 225. 8. Daily Mail, 23 July 1946, front page. It is always interesting for foreign cor- respondents to see what is making the news at home: the King David Hotel report had to share that morning’s Daily Mail front page with the story of a riot at a dog-racing track in Harringay, North London. The unrest had been caused by the disqualification of a dog which had come in second – a decision which presumably cost quite a lot of people quite a lot of money. 9. Ibid. 10. World Pictorial News, No. 275 (1946) Imperial War Museum Films. Avail- ableathttp://jiscmediahub.ac.uk/record/display/010-00001523#sthash .BR0KoaEG.dpuf. Accessed 30 January 2015. 11. ‘National Military Organization’ in pre-State Israel. 12. Ibid. 13. Daily Express, 23 July 1946, p.2. 14. Ibid. 15. Golani (2009),p.4. 16. Daily Express, 23 July 1946, p.2. 17. Ibid. 18. Daily Express, 23 July 1946, front page. 19. The Times, 23 July 1946, p.4. 20. Ibid. 21. Manchester Guardian, 23 July 1946, p. 5. 22. TheIrgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization), an armedgroup in Mandate-era Palestine fighting to establish a Jewish state.
    [Show full text]
  • 2004-05-20-Rafah's Human Face
    Starhawk Op Ed: Rafah's Human Face 5-20-04 http://starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/rafah_human_face.html [Back to Starhawk's Activism Writings Page] [Back to Starhawk's Activism Page] Op Ed: Rafah's Human Face by Starhawk Thursday, May 20, 2004 Just over a year ago, I held Nehad's six year old, curly haired charmer of a daughter on my lap and scooped eggs from a plate shared by her five other children as bullets thudded into the walls of her home in the border zone of Rafah. With shy pride, Nehad told me the eggs were from her own chickens, the oranges from the few trees that remained undamaged in her garden. The kids watched cartoons on TV, inured to the rat-a-tat-tat of constant fire until the bullets grew so loud that even they dived to the floor. Each time I'd stay at Abu Akhmed's house, he would tease me about being Jewish, then try to determine which of his friends might make me a good husband, so that I could stay in Rafah. A farmer, 45 of his trees had already been bulldozed. In the evenings, old men would gather around a small fire in a tin can, brew tea and talk while tanks cruised past the gates and the occasional shot crashed into the walls. I was there with the International Solidarity Movement, which supports nonviolent resistance against the Occupation. I had come down to Rafah to support the teams that were with Rachel Corrie, the young ISM member who was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer while trying to prevent a home demolition, and Tom Hurndall, who was shot by an Israeli sniper while trying to rescue children who were under fire.
    [Show full text]
  • Israel's Asymmetric Wars / Samy Cohen ; Translated from the French by Cynthia Schoch
    The Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy Series Editor, Christian Lequesne This series consists of works emanating from the foremost French researchers from Sciences Po, Paris. Sciences Po was founded in 1872 and is today one of the most pres- tigious universities for teaching and research in social sciences in France, recognized worldwide. This series focuses on the transformations of the international arena, in a world where the state, though its sovereignty is questioned, reinvents itself. The series explores the effects on international relations and the world economy of regionaliza- tion, globalization (not only of trade and finance but also of culture), and transnational flows at large. This evolution in world affairs sustains a variety of networks from the ideological to the criminal or terrorist. Besides the geopolitical transformations of the globalized planet, the new political economy of the world has a decided impact on its destiny as well, and this series hopes to uncover what that is. Published by Palgrave Macmillan: Politics in China: Moving Frontiers edited by Françoise Mengin and Jean-Louis Rocca Tropical Forests, International Jungle: The Underside of Global Ecopolitics by Marie-Claude Smouts, translated by Cynthia Schoch The Political Economy of Emerging Markets: Actors, Institutions and Financial Crises in Latin America by Javier Santiso Cyber China: Reshaping National Identities in the Age of Information edited by Françoise Mengin With Us or Against Us: Studies in Global Anti-Americanism
    [Show full text]
  • Void of Responsibility: Israel Military Policy Not to Investigate
    (') #''%'(" 160'('%93155("$.:%(3*(3!(*,45(3('441&,$5,10 (' #' "&$ %6 %(,'$+"5(364$.(/ #(. $8 (/$,./$,.+$/1-('13*,. 777+$/1-('13*,. '#()'(# '' #"#+(43$(.,0)13/$5,10(05(3)13 6/$0!,*+54,05+( &&62,('#(33,513,(4&&62,('#(33,513,(4 (')#' &(#)'&(#)' "&$ !$ $5$$4,9$"5 5+.113#$.2,15(364$.(/ #(. $8 [email protected]/$,./$,.%54(.(/13*+552777%54(.(/13* • www.btselem.org October 2010 Void of Responsibility Israel Military Policy Not to Investigate Killings of Palestinians by Soldiers Written and researched by Yael Stein In addition to our hundreds of individual donors in Israel and abroad, B'Tselem thanks the following donors for their generous support: Translated by Zvi Shulman Annenberg Foundation • British Foreign and Commonwealth Office • Catholic Relief English editing by Shaul Vardi Services • Christian Aid (UK)/Development Cooperation Ireland • Naomi and Nehemia Data coordination by Noa Tal and Antigona Ashkar Cohen Foundation • DanChurchAid • Diakonia • EED • European Commission • Ford Foundation • ICCO • Minister for Development Cooperation - Representative Office of Cover photo: Relatives of Yasser a-Tmeizi, who was killed on 13 January 2009 at Tarqumiya the Kingdom of the Netherlands • New Israel Fund • Norwegian Foreign Ministry • Iris Checkpoint, with his photo (Musa Abu Hashhash, B’Tselem, 31 August 2010) O’Brien Foundation • Open Society Institute • Oxfam Novib • PEF Israel Endowment Funds • Sigrid Rausing Trust • Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust • SIVMO - Stichting Het Solidaritetsfonds
    [Show full text]
  • The Second Palestinian Intifada a Chronicle of a People’S Struggle
    The Second Palestinian Intifada A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle RAMZY BAROUD Foreword by Kathleen and Bill Christison Introduction by Jennifer Loewenstein Photographs by Mahfouz Abu Turk and Matthew Cassel Pluto P Press LONDON • ANN ARBOR, MI BBaroudaroud 0000 pprere iiiiii 226/4/066/4/06 008:05:128:05:12 First published 2006 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Ramzy Baroud 2006 The right of Ramzy Baroud to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 7453 2548 3 hardback ISBN 0 7453 2547 5 paperback Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services Ltd, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Printed and bound in the United States of America by Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group BBaroudaroud 0000 pprere iivv 226/4/066/4/06 008:05:128:05:12 To Zarefah, Iman, and Sammy, my life’s inspiration BBaroudaroud 0000 pprere v 226/4/066/4/06 008:05:128:05:12 Contents Foreword by Kathleen and Bill Christison viii Preface xiii Acknowledgements xvii Introduction by Jennifer Loewenstein 1 1 The Intifada Takes Off (2000–01) 16 2 Intifada International (2002) 36 3 Calls for Reform (2003) 53 4 Profound
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1: Introduction
    A Critical Discourse Analysis of News Reports on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict in Selected Arab and Western Newspapers Aziza Zaher A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2009 This work is the intellectual property of Aziza Zaher. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner(s) of the Intellectual Property Rights. Table of Contents 1 Introduction and Historical Background ............................................. 3 1.1 Introduction to Research ........................................................................... 3 1.1.1 Aims of research ................................................................................... 4 1.1.2 Research questions ............................................................................... 4 1.1.3 Research Hypotheses ............................................................................ 4 1.2 History of the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict ..................................................... 5 1.3 Perceptions of Israel and the Palestinians in the West ............................... 28 2 Theoretical Background ......................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 2003-04-12-More Blood in Rafah
    Starhawk: More Blood in Rafah 4-12-03 http://starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/israel_palestine/blood_in_... [Back to Starhawk's Israel/Palestine Page] More Blood in Rafah by Starhawk April 12, 2003 In Rafah another activist from the International Solidarity Movement was shot. Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by a sniper from an Israeli guard tower on the Egyptian border of the Gaza strip. The guard towers surround Gaza, which has become a kind of open-air prison overlaid on an idyllic land of sun and sea and orange groves. Here and there a few olive groves remain, or a flock of sheep and goats graze an empty lot. Farmers bring produce to market in donkey carts, and old women bake bread in clay ovens. An ancient order survives under an overlay of concrete, dust and rubble, menaced by bulldozers, sniper towers, tanks that shoot at night, acres of razor wire and no-man’s land now being further extended to border a thirty-foot high concrete wall which marches across the landscape, cutting Rafah irrevocably off from Egypt. The wall is presumably for ‘security’—to prevent suicide bombers and weapons from entering Israel. But in reality, the wall is the next move in the Israeli policy of confiscation and control. In the West Bank, the route of the wall strolls out from the Green Line that marks the pre-1967 boundary, rambles all over the countryside and steals more than half of the remaining land from the Palestinians. Cities such as Nablus and Jenin will be encircled and enclosed in isolated Bantustans.
    [Show full text]