The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) refutes
the findings of the
recently-published report from the Israeli Government Review Committee, titled
‘The France 2
Al-Durrah Report, its Consequences and Implications’, released on
19 May 2013. The report examines the incident
involving the killing of a 12-year-old
Palestinian boy, Mohammed al-Durrah, which occurred on
30 September 2000 at
the Netzarim
junction in the Gaza Strip.
The Government Review Committee was set up in
September 2012 upon the
instruction of the
Israeli prime minister, twelve years after the incident took place.
The committee claims to have extensively reviewed
material related to the incident.
Its key findings were as follows: there is no
evidence that Mohammed or his father,
Jamal, were wounded in the incident; the two were
not struck by bullets at all; and
the Israeli forces bear no responsibility for the
incident.
PCHR carried out an investigation of the incident
after it occurred, the findings of
which completely
contradict the assertions in the Israeli report. As a part of its
investigations, PCHR’s lawyers collected affidavits from the following
persons:
- 1. Mr Talal Hassan Abu Rahma, a photographer for France 2
television who
- witnessed the incident;
- 2. Mr Ma’ali Suleiman Hussain Selmi, head of the
reception department at Shifa
- hospital in Gaza City; and
- 3. Mr Fathi Ahmed Mas’oud al-Louh, an ambulance driver
who was present at the
- Netzarim junction on the day of the incident and was
seriously injured by Israeli
- gunfire.
Abu Rahma, who was present during the incident, stated
that Israeli forces fired
intensively and intermittently at Mohammed and Jamal.
The victims were then
evacuated to Shifa hospital by ambulance, where
Mohammed was pronounced dead
on arrival.
Mas’oid al Louh, who was present at the Netzarim junction on the day
when the incident took place, stated that he had
witnessed Israeli forces firing live
bullets that day. Al-Louh also stated that, while
tending to a number of injured
persons, he himself was injured by a rubber
coated metal bullet in his right leg, and
shortly after that he was injured when a live
bullet grazed the top of his head.
Israel, as an occupying power, is obliged to ensure
that its forces respect and
protect the human
rights of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. However,
PCHR’s investigation indicates that Israeli
forces arbitrarily deprived Mohammed of
his right to life, in violation of Article 6(1)
of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights. Moreover, Israeli forces
disregarded Articles 9 and 10 of the
1990 UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and
Firearms by Law Enforcement
Officials, according to which they should not
have fired at Mohammed and Jamal, as
they did not pose any imminent threat of death or
serious injury to the soldiers or
any other person.
In light of the above:
a) PCHR strongly disputes the Israeli committee’s
conclusions in the report;
b) PCHR strongly condemns Israel’s 12-year delay in
examining the incident. This
report challenges the very authenticity of the report
which first brought the incident
to attention.
Given the nature of the incident, and the potential human rights
violations related to it, this delay, in itself,
constitutes a violation of customary
international law norms, which establish that
unreasonably prolonged delays in the
examination and investigation of human rights
violations result in a situation of
impunity. The report does not provide any
justification for this delay;
c) PCHR believes that this examination, and previous
investigations into the matter,
conducted by the Israeli authorities failed to meet
international standards of
independence, impartiality, transparency, promptness,
and effectiveness; and
d) PCHR calls for an independent
international investigation of the incident.
