Israel/OPT
26.07.00
Urgent Interventions
Israel/Palestine: Israeli border police assaulted a Palestinian citizen
Case ISR 260700
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Israel.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Palestinian Society for the Protection for Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), a member of the OMCT network, that on 23rd July 2000, Israeli border police, stationed next to the central post office in the Salah al-Din Street in Jerusalem, assaulted Palestinian citizen Shafieh Shkirat, 28, from Jabal al-Mukaber. He was then detained and held incommunicado before being released on bail of 5000 NIS.
According to the information received, Shkirat was heading to the post office when he saw a number of the border police soldiers intercepting a physically handicapped Jerusalemite. As he saw that they were harassing him, Shkirat intervened and urged them to stop hassling him. As a result the soldiers beat Shkirat severely, using rifle butts and batons, and punched and kicked him. He was then held without legal justification. The director and another lawyer from the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights (JCSER), where Shkirat is a field researcher, arrived and attempted to negotiate the situation with the officer in charge. It is reported that they were ordered out of the police station and the captain, Unis, instructed soldiers to assault any Palestinian citizen who gathered around the police station to enquire about the situation. As a result, a number of people were assaulted and beaten severely. Two were reported injured.
LAW further reported that Shkirat was transferred to the Russian Compound police station, on the pretext that he had blackmailed and intervened in police affairs, and interrogated for over an hour and a half before being later released after the intervention of JCSER's lawyer who noticed Shkirat's health condition deteriorate; Shkirat suffered a cut to his forehead and a fracture to his right shoulder as well as bruises all over his body. He was transferred to hospital medical treatment. It is noted that the officer in charge had denied him first aid.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Shafieh Shkirat;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into these allegations of assault and arbitrary detention in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. guarantee adequate compensation and rehabilitation to Shafieh Shkirat;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Ehud Barak, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan Street Hakirya, Jerusalem 91007, Israel, Faxes: +972 2 566 4838 and +972 3 691 7915
Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91029, State of Israel. Fax : + 972 2 6285 438
Minister of Defense, Ministry of Defense, 7 "A" Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv, Israel. Fax: +972 3 697 62 18.
Minister of Police, Ministry of Police, PO Box 18182, 3 Sheikh Jarrah, Kiryat Hamemshala, Jerusalem 91181, State of Israel. Fax : + 972 2 5826 769.
The Embassy of Israel in your respective countries.
Geneva, July 26, 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Israel.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Palestinian Society for the Protection for Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), a member of the OMCT network, that on 23rd July 2000, Israeli border police, stationed next to the central post office in the Salah al-Din Street in Jerusalem, assaulted Palestinian citizen Shafieh Shkirat, 28, from Jabal al-Mukaber. He was then detained and held incommunicado before being released on bail of 5000 NIS.
According to the information received, Shkirat was heading to the post office when he saw a number of the border police soldiers intercepting a physically handicapped Jerusalemite. As he saw that they were harassing him, Shkirat intervened and urged them to stop hassling him. As a result the soldiers beat Shkirat severely, using rifle butts and batons, and punched and kicked him. He was then held without legal justification. The director and another lawyer from the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights (JCSER), where Shkirat is a field researcher, arrived and attempted to negotiate the situation with the officer in charge. It is reported that they were ordered out of the police station and the captain, Unis, instructed soldiers to assault any Palestinian citizen who gathered around the police station to enquire about the situation. As a result, a number of people were assaulted and beaten severely. Two were reported injured.
LAW further reported that Shkirat was transferred to the Russian Compound police station, on the pretext that he had blackmailed and intervened in police affairs, and interrogated for over an hour and a half before being later released after the intervention of JCSER's lawyer who noticed Shkirat's health condition deteriorate; Shkirat suffered a cut to his forehead and a fracture to his right shoulder as well as bruises all over his body. He was transferred to hospital medical treatment. It is noted that the officer in charge had denied him first aid.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Shafieh Shkirat;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into these allegations of assault and arbitrary detention in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. guarantee adequate compensation and rehabilitation to Shafieh Shkirat;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Ehud Barak, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan Street Hakirya, Jerusalem 91007, Israel, Faxes: +972 2 566 4838 and +972 3 691 7915
Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91029, State of Israel. Fax : + 972 2 6285 438
Minister of Defense, Ministry of Defense, 7 "A" Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv, Israel. Fax: +972 3 697 62 18.
Minister of Police, Ministry of Police, PO Box 18182, 3 Sheikh Jarrah, Kiryat Hamemshala, Jerusalem 91181, State of Israel. Fax : + 972 2 5826 769.
The Embassy of Israel in your respective countries.
Geneva, July 26, 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.