Israel/OPT
22.08.02
Urgent Interventions
'Israel: extra-judicial execution of 20-year old Muhammad Sa’adat Yusuf Abdelrasul
Case ISR 220802
Extra-judicial killing
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Israel and the Palestine Occupied Territories.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), a member of the OMCT network, that an Israeli death squad, dressed in civilian clothes, has extra-judicially executed 20-year old Muhammad Sa’adat Yusuf Abdelrasul, the youngest brother of the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), during the evening of August 20th, 2002, in El-Bireh in the Palestine Occupied Territories.
According to the information received, Muhammad Sa'adat left his home on al-Nahda Street, which is located opposite the so-called Friends' School in El Bireh, at around 17.45. He was on his way to his father’s grocery in the same area. When he was less than twenty meters away from a white Mitsubishi parked in the street opposite his home, two armed men in civilian clothes reportedly got out of the car and opened fire at him. Muhammad Sa'adat ran towards a flower shop to hide. The armed Israeli undercover unit chased him and shot him at close range, with eight bullets injuring him in the head, face, chest and lower parts of his body. Immediately, a large number of Israeli army jeeps arrived and surrounded the area, preventing ambulances from the Red Crescent from gaining access to him in order to provide first aid and evacuate him. They also prevented residents from entering the area. The Israeli occupation forces left him bleeding for twenty minutes at the end of which he died, even though the Arab Care Hospital was only a few meters away.
According to the information received, Muhammad is the youngest brother of Ahmad Sa'adat, the Secretary-General of the PFLP, who was arrested on January 15th, 2002, by the Palestinian General Intelligence Service. Ahmad Sa'adat was then transferred to the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. On June 3, 2002, the Palestinian High Court ordered the release of Ahmad Sa'adat, as he had not been charged or brought before a judge during his detention. On June 4th, 2002, however, the Palestinian Authority decided that Ahmad Sa'adat should not be released due to Israeli threats that they would assassinate him. Ra'anan Gissin, an Israeli spokesman, said that if he [Sa'adat] is not brought to justice, we will bring justice to him'. One year ago, on August 27th, 2001, Israeli forces extra-judicially executed the late general-secretary of the PFLP, Abu 'Ali Mustafa, in Ramallah by way of a missile fired from an Apache helicopter.
On May 1st, 2002, in a deal designed to end the Israeli siege on the Palestinian Authority’s the headquarters, six Palestinians who were being detained at the compound in Ramallah, including Ahmad Sa'adat, were transferred to Jericho, where they remain detained under the monitoring of UK and US observers.
According to the information received, LAW and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) have still not received a response to the urgent request submitted on July 25th, 2002 to the Israeli Supreme Court, based on their former petition (769/02) to the Court demanding that it immediately issue an interim injunction ordering Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Minister of Defence Benyamin Eliezer and Israeli Army and Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon to end the policy of assassinations. Since the submission of the original petition, 48 persons who have been targeted for assassination have been killed, along with 17 bystanders. This is in addition to the extra-judicial execution of 53 Palestinians who have been targeted for assassination, of which 21 were confirmed by official Israeli reports, in addition to the killing of at least 25 bystanders from the beginning of the Intifada up to the date of the submission of the original petition.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by yet another report of an extra-judicial execution by the Israeli authorities and joins LAW and PCATI in calling on the authorities to immediately halt the use of such means. OMCT recalls that these “targeted assassinations” are carried out without recourse to even the most basic judicial procedures and no attempt is made to arrest the individuals in question. These extra-judicial killings constitute a gross and systematic violation of the right to life, the right to a fair trial and other human rights laws and standards. Not only are they clearly in violation of several of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but, as wilful killings, they also constitute grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:
· immediately halt the use of extra-judicial executions;
· guarantee that Muhammad Sa'adat’s family is awarded reparation, along with all the families of those who have been executed as a result of Israel’s policy;
· order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
· ensure that all injured persons be allowed access to emergency medical attention, in this case, from members of the Red Crescent;
· guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 670 5475, E-mail: pm_heb@pmo.gov.il
· Meir Shetrit, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, State of Israel. Fax: + 972 2 628 8618, Email: sar@justice.gov.il
· Eli Yishai, Minister of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior, Email: sar@moin.gov.il
· Shimon Peres, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fax: (+ 972 2) 530 35 06, E-mail: sar@mofa.gov.il
· The Supreme Court of Justice, Kiryat Ben Gurion, Jerusalem, Israel. Fax: (+ 972 2) 675 96 48
· Elyakim Rubinstein, Attorney-General, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, Israel, Fax: + 972 2 628 5438
· Brigadier Menachem Finkelstein, Military Attorney-General, Ministry of Defence, Lishkat Ha Patzar, Ha Kirya, Tel Aviv, Fax: + 972 3 569 4569
Please also write to the embassies of Israel in your respective country.
Geneva, August 22nd, 2002.
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Extra-judicial killing
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Israel and the Palestine Occupied Territories.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), a member of the OMCT network, that an Israeli death squad, dressed in civilian clothes, has extra-judicially executed 20-year old Muhammad Sa’adat Yusuf Abdelrasul, the youngest brother of the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), during the evening of August 20th, 2002, in El-Bireh in the Palestine Occupied Territories.
According to the information received, Muhammad Sa'adat left his home on al-Nahda Street, which is located opposite the so-called Friends' School in El Bireh, at around 17.45. He was on his way to his father’s grocery in the same area. When he was less than twenty meters away from a white Mitsubishi parked in the street opposite his home, two armed men in civilian clothes reportedly got out of the car and opened fire at him. Muhammad Sa'adat ran towards a flower shop to hide. The armed Israeli undercover unit chased him and shot him at close range, with eight bullets injuring him in the head, face, chest and lower parts of his body. Immediately, a large number of Israeli army jeeps arrived and surrounded the area, preventing ambulances from the Red Crescent from gaining access to him in order to provide first aid and evacuate him. They also prevented residents from entering the area. The Israeli occupation forces left him bleeding for twenty minutes at the end of which he died, even though the Arab Care Hospital was only a few meters away.
According to the information received, Muhammad is the youngest brother of Ahmad Sa'adat, the Secretary-General of the PFLP, who was arrested on January 15th, 2002, by the Palestinian General Intelligence Service. Ahmad Sa'adat was then transferred to the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. On June 3, 2002, the Palestinian High Court ordered the release of Ahmad Sa'adat, as he had not been charged or brought before a judge during his detention. On June 4th, 2002, however, the Palestinian Authority decided that Ahmad Sa'adat should not be released due to Israeli threats that they would assassinate him. Ra'anan Gissin, an Israeli spokesman, said that if he [Sa'adat] is not brought to justice, we will bring justice to him'. One year ago, on August 27th, 2001, Israeli forces extra-judicially executed the late general-secretary of the PFLP, Abu 'Ali Mustafa, in Ramallah by way of a missile fired from an Apache helicopter.
On May 1st, 2002, in a deal designed to end the Israeli siege on the Palestinian Authority’s the headquarters, six Palestinians who were being detained at the compound in Ramallah, including Ahmad Sa'adat, were transferred to Jericho, where they remain detained under the monitoring of UK and US observers.
According to the information received, LAW and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) have still not received a response to the urgent request submitted on July 25th, 2002 to the Israeli Supreme Court, based on their former petition (769/02) to the Court demanding that it immediately issue an interim injunction ordering Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Minister of Defence Benyamin Eliezer and Israeli Army and Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon to end the policy of assassinations. Since the submission of the original petition, 48 persons who have been targeted for assassination have been killed, along with 17 bystanders. This is in addition to the extra-judicial execution of 53 Palestinians who have been targeted for assassination, of which 21 were confirmed by official Israeli reports, in addition to the killing of at least 25 bystanders from the beginning of the Intifada up to the date of the submission of the original petition.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by yet another report of an extra-judicial execution by the Israeli authorities and joins LAW and PCATI in calling on the authorities to immediately halt the use of such means. OMCT recalls that these “targeted assassinations” are carried out without recourse to even the most basic judicial procedures and no attempt is made to arrest the individuals in question. These extra-judicial killings constitute a gross and systematic violation of the right to life, the right to a fair trial and other human rights laws and standards. Not only are they clearly in violation of several of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but, as wilful killings, they also constitute grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:
· immediately halt the use of extra-judicial executions;
· guarantee that Muhammad Sa'adat’s family is awarded reparation, along with all the families of those who have been executed as a result of Israel’s policy;
· order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
· ensure that all injured persons be allowed access to emergency medical attention, in this case, from members of the Red Crescent;
· guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 670 5475, E-mail: pm_heb@pmo.gov.il
· Meir Shetrit, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, State of Israel. Fax: + 972 2 628 8618, Email: sar@justice.gov.il
· Eli Yishai, Minister of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior, Email: sar@moin.gov.il
· Shimon Peres, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fax: (+ 972 2) 530 35 06, E-mail: sar@mofa.gov.il
· The Supreme Court of Justice, Kiryat Ben Gurion, Jerusalem, Israel. Fax: (+ 972 2) 675 96 48
· Elyakim Rubinstein, Attorney-General, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, Israel, Fax: + 972 2 628 5438
· Brigadier Menachem Finkelstein, Military Attorney-General, Ministry of Defence, Lishkat Ha Patzar, Ha Kirya, Tel Aviv, Fax: + 972 3 569 4569
Please also write to the embassies of Israel in your respective country.
Geneva, August 22nd, 2002.
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.