-Caveat Lector-
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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 17:04:45 +0000
From: ainews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Israel/Occupied Territories: Inaction is complicity
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
8 March 2002
MDE 15/017/2002
42/02
Amnesty International called on the international community to
act immediately to save Palestinian and Israeli lives by
insisting on an international presence in Israel's Occupied
Territories.
Over the past ten days, at least 130 Palestinians have
been killed. At least 18 wounded Palestinians have reportedly
died because of denial of access of medical services. In the same
period, at least 33 Israelis have been killed, including 17
civilians.
"No country should stand on the sidelines. Palestinian
and Israeli children are slaughtered, ambulances carrying wounded
Palestinians shot at, Palestinians homes are demolished and their
towns and villages sealed off. Remaining silent amounts to
condoning the escalation of killings, violence and retaliation,"
said Amnesty International.
"Now is the time to act."
"The international community has made many statements and
sent many delegates, but these efforts have failed to prevent an
escalating human rights crisis," added Amnesty International.
"AI has repeatedly called on the Israeli Government to
halt unlawful killings and on Palestinian armed groups to cease
killing civilians," said Amnesty International. "International
monitors with a strong human rights component can help to stop
unlawful killings, and the human suffering caused by the
bombings, the siege and demolition of homes in Gaza and the West
Bank."
The Gaza Strip and the West Bank, occupied by Israel in
1967, are governed by the rules of human rights and humanitarian
law. Those living under occupation are protected by the rules of
the Fourth Geneva Convention which describe as "grave breaches"
acts such as wilful killing, wilfully causing great suffering or
serious injury to body or health, and extensive destruction and
appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity.
"Yet grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and serious
violations of human rights standards are daily currency in the
Occupied Territories," Amnesty International emphasized.
The number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of
the current intifada in September 2000 has now reached more than
1000. The great majority of those killed, who include more than
200 children, were killed unlawfully when no lives were in
danger. More than 600 houses have been demolished. In an act of
collective punishment villages and towns in the West Bank are
consistently sealed off by barriers manned by soldiers or made of
earth, concrete blocks or trenches. At the same time at least 300
Israelis have been killed, including at least 200 civilians,
among them over 50 children.
The Commission of Inquiry established by the UN
Commission on Human Rights called in March 2001 for an effective
international human rights monitoring presence to be "established
immediately and constituted in such a manner as to reflect a
sense of urgency about protecting the human rights of the
Palestinian people".
A year on, this urgent call remains unheeded. Respect for
human rights and humanitarian law is the only viable path towards
lasting peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis.
Armed Palestinian groups have also an obligation to
respect the Geneva Conventions which forbid the targeting of
civilians. "But breaches in humanitarian law by an armed group
can never justify a state's breaches of fundamental principles of
human rights and humanitarian law it has solemnly sworn to
uphold".
Background
Since 27 February Israeli troops have entered Palestinian refugee
camps allegedly in order to arrest members of armed Palestinian
groups. After raids in Balata refugee camp in Nablus and Jenin
refugee camp, they also entered Aida and Deheishe refugee camps
in Bethlehem, camps in the Gaza Strip and Tulkarem camp. In these
camps, which house Palestinians exiled from their homes after
1948 and have a high density population, the Israeli Defence
Force (IDF) have used hellfire missiles from Apache helicopters,
tank rounds and bullets from heavy machine guns mounted on
Merkava tanks. This represents a disproportionate use of lethal
force and endangers the lives of ordinary people in the camps. In
addition, the IDF in its action over the past three days has
frequently targeted ambulances, killing five Palestinian medical
workers including the director of a hospital in Bethlehem and the
head of Jenin emergency services, while preventing or hindering
ambulances from carrying away wounded Palestinians.
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