“KILLED WHILE TRYING TO FLEE”

The following letter was sent by us right now to Ha’aretz

Dear editor

In an internet update of Haaretz English of today is written:”Another Palestinian, a wanted Hamas militant, was killed in the village ofSalem, east of Nablus, while trying to flee IDF troops. “

It appears in the Amos Harel article.We would like to draw your attention to the version of Al-Haq.

” At approximately 2:00 am on August 2nd Israeli soldiers shot and killedAmjad Abdel Hadi Jebour in front of his family after detaining him in thevillage of Salem, which is located east of Nablus. “

The old and respectable Palestinian Human Rights organization Al-Haq sent out thefollowing press release:

Al-Haq Statement

Al-Haq Condemns the Execution by Israeli Soldiers of Amjad JebourAt approximately 2:00 am on August 2nd Israeli soldiers shot and killedAmjad Abdel Hadi Jebour in front of his family after detaining him in thevillage of Salem, which is located east of Nablus. Amjad was 31 years old,married and the father of five children. Al-Haq’s fieldworker in Nablusgathered the following information from witnesses to the killing.

According to Al-Haq’s information, Israeli forces entered into the villageof Salem during the early morning hours of August 2nd with the aim ofarresting Palestinians Israel accuses of being involved in “militantactivities”. Around 2:00 am soldiers knocked on the door of Mohammad , aneighbor of Amjad Jebour. When Mohammad answered his door he found hishouse surrounded by Israeli soldiers. He was called out of the house,physically searched, and then questioned by an Israeli officer. The officertold Mohammad that his name was Captain Guy, that he was an officer with Shabak,the Israeli security services, who had previously been responsible for the areaaround Salem, and that he was returning to once again take control of the area.

He then asked Mohammad questions about the people who live in the area aroundhis home. When Mohammad mentioned Amjad Jebour’s name, Captain Guycommentedthat this was the first night in a year that Amjad had been in his home. Hethen forced Mohammad to come with him to Amjad’s home.

When they arrived at Amjad’s home, Mohammad reported that soldiers werealready surrounding the home. Mohammad was made to knock on Amjad’s door totell him to come outside to the soldiers. Amjad came into the doorway of hishouse at which point a bright light was shone upon him and he was forced to takeoff his clothes to prove that he was not carrying a weapon or explosives. Afterthis examination was finished he was allowed to put his clothes back on and wasordered to reenter the house to gather his ID card. When he returned outsidewith his ID he was ordered to also retrieve his mobile phone and wallet. Hecalled inside to his wife for these items, and she brought them to him. Afterhe had turned over his wallet, ID and phone to the soldiers both Mohammad andAmjad’s wife reported that Amjad’s hands were bound behind his back and he wasthen brought to stand next to an army jeep located approximately ten meters fromthe home. The military spotlight and streetlights in the area made it possibleto see clearly what happened next.

According to Mohammad, a soldier standing approximately four meters to theleft of Amjad fired a single shot into Amjad’s neck as he stood next to thejeep. After the shot was fired several of the soldiers began to shout at eachother in Hebrew. Mohammad, who speaks Hebrew, reported that one of the soldiersyelled, “I told you to injure him, not to kill him.” After Amjad was shot, hetook several steps and then collapsed, after which several soldiers dragged hisbody approximately 30 meters down the road. The soldiers stayed around Amjad’sbody for another 15 minutes until it was confirmed that he was dead. They thenleft the village. Mohammad’s testimony regarding the killing of Amjad Jebourwas corroborated by Antar Hamdan, Amjad’s next door neighbor, who watched thekilling from the window of his home.

Yesterday’s killing of Amjad Jebour qualifies as an extra judicialexecution, and thereby as a willful killing, which is a grave breach of theFourth Geneva Convention and a war crime. Any killing of a civilian that isintentional or is not justified by military necessity qualifies both as a gravebreach of the Fourth Geneva Convention under Article 147 and as a war crime.

The definition of the term “willful” found in the official Commentary toarticle 85 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions states that,“the accused must have acted consciously and with intent, i.e., with hismind on the act and its consequences and willing them…” The InternationalCriminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia examined the issue of willfulkilling in depth in the Celebici Case. The court held that willfulkilling is equivalent to murder. However, there is a distinction between a“willful killing” and any other killing, which is found in the intent or mensrea of the person or persons who carried out the killing. The judges in theCelebici case ruled that for a killing to be deemed “willful” intent to killmust be proven. The court went on to rule that intent is present where there isdemonstrated an intention on the part of the accused to kill, or inflict seriousinjury in reckless disregard of human life. A death that can be deemed theaccidental consequence of another action cannot be deemed “willful”.

In the Celebici Case the International Criminal Tribunal for the FormerYugoslavia also found that, “the offence of willfully causing greatsuffering or serious injury to body or health constitutes an act or omissionthat is intentional, being an act which, judged objectively, is deliberate andnot accidental, which causes serious mental or physical suffering or injury.”Willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health is also aGrave Breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention under Article 147 and qualifies asa war crime.

The statements made by Israeli soldiers and heard by the witnessesinterviewed by Al-Haq indicate that the decision to shoot Amjad waspremeditated. According to these statements there was intent to at leastinjure Amjad. The soldier who shot Amjad and those responsible for orderingAmjad shot clearly violated the prohibitions against willfully causing greatsuffering or serious injury to body or health. In shooting Amjad the soldiersalso showed a reckless disregard for his safety and, according to witnesses, hada stated intent to cause him grave injury. Because Amjad died as a result ofthe wounds willfully inflicted upon him, the shooting therefore also meets thethreshold needed to qualify this case as a willful killing as defined in theCelebici Case. As such Israel must take action to hold those responsible forthis crime accountable. If Israel fails to act, the international communityshould intervene to hold Israel accountable for its continued violations ofPalestinians’ human rights.

In this light Al-Haq calls for the following.

1. Israel must investigate yesterday’s attack in Salem and must take action uponany findings of the said investigation to hold those responsible for violatinginternational law accountable.

2. Dr. Asma Jahangir Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions should visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories to fully investigate all cases of assassination that have occurred since the outbreak of the Intifada and to report on his findings to the relevant international bodies.
3. States Parties. to the Fourth Geneva Convention must act immediately under their obligations as outlined in Articles 1, 146, and 147 of the convention to provide the Palestinian people with protection from continued Israeli grave breaches of the Convention.
4. The United Nations must fully implement all resolutions related to the Occupied Territories passed during meetings of the Human Rights Commission during the last two years, and should press the Security Council to authorize action to end Israel’s systematic violation of international humanitarian law. 5. The international community must send a clear signal to Israel that its continued use of military force against a civilian population will not be accepted, and that the continued use of such force would lead States Parties to take action in an attempt to bring Israel into compliance with international law.

• For the full text of the Amos Harel article: