Amnesty International has accused Israeli forces of displaying “an appalling disregard for human life by using reckless and unlawful lethal force against Palestinians”, in a new statement timed to coincide with the anniversary of an uptick in violence dated October 1 2015.
The international human rights group says it sent a memorandum to the Israeli authorities on September 14 detailing 20 cases of “apparently unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces, seeking clarification about the status of investigations.”
In at least 15 of the cases, Amnesty says: “Palestinians were deliberately shot dead, despite posing no imminent threat to life, in what appear to be extrajudicial executions.”
Lest we forget: Gaza: new evidence of deliberate attacks on medics by Israeli army | Amnesty International UK https://t.co/Kt9JPZSS7w
— cora livesey (@coralivesey) September 22, 2016
The Israeli authorities have not responded to Amnesty International’s concerns. The full memo sent by Amnesty can be viewed online here.
According to Philip Luther, research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, the “worrying rise in unlawful killings by Israeli forces” over the last year has been “fostered by a culture of impunity.”
Of the 20 incidents highlighted by Amnesty, “an indictment has been filed against a soldier in only one case. In many cases where there appears to be evidence of an extrajudicial execution, there is not even an open criminal investigation.”
United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch: Israel Is Targeting CIVILIANS In Gazahttps://t.co/9IyJAJE0Dh
@Steino82— تريسي Tracy (@BSfromPS) September 27, 2016
Amnesty says that its research shows how Israel’s “military justice system consistently fails to deliver justice for Palestinian victims of unlawful killings and their families.”
Luther added: “Relatives of Israelis killed by Palestinians can count on a state that aggressively pursues the attackers – and often oversteps the bounds of legality in that pursuit. Palestinians, on the other hand, do not have anyone to protect their rights.”
In a 2014 Amnesty report, “Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank”, the NGO “documented 19 apparently unlawful killings, including three cases where there was evidence of wilful killings, which amount to war crimes.”
(MEMO, PC)
