CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS of TRIGGER-HAPPY ISRAEL’S USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE IN THE WEST BANK by Amnesty International
ISRAEL’S USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE ON PALESTINIANS IS COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT = Excessive force against Protestors + Erection of the fence/wall + Jewish-settlements in the West Bank + Road closures and restrictions on movement = Daily experience of life for Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation
ISRAEL USES toxic chemical irritants (tear gas), stun grenades (sound bombs), pepper spray, maloderant (skunk) water canon spray, and hand-held batons against peaceful demonstrators + Sometimes Israel uses lethal force = Live Gunfire + Rubber-coated metal bullets MURDERING PROTESTORS + Wounding of hundreds of others + GASES cause people breathing difficulties and putting them at risk of suffocation + Set House Fires +DO Extensive damage to vital water supplies + Israelis fire “skunk water” at homes, causing damage and leaving families with a sickening smell that remains for days afterwards + Declare areas as closed military zones + Close roads into and out of villages with military checkpoints + Harassed by Israeli soldiers + ISRAELI Army frequently arrests local political activists and human rights defenders, and conducts night raids in the village, many times arresting children accused mostly of stone- throwing at Israeli troops = Letter sent by Amnesty International Israel to the Israeli Defense Minister defined all of this.
ISRAELI Army’s Repressive and Restrictive Policies and Practices amounts to collective punishment = Entire Population is penalized for protests against Israeli rule. = Collective punishment is prohibited under international humanitarian law + a serious violation of international human rights law by Israeli soldiers repeatedly including unlawful killings.
Israeli forces use excessive, often lethal, force against Palestinians who pose no threat to lives and Soldiers do so with impunity WITH NO HOPE OF JUSTICE + Israeli forces for decades routinely violate international human rights law and the law of occupation by unlawfully killing and injuring civilians, including children, who are posing no threat to their lives or those of others.
Amnesty International calls on Israeli authorities to:
#1 Rescind Military Order 101 + Military Order 1651 + Fully respect the right of Palestinians to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
#2 Israeli Army/Police comply fully with the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. = officials must respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons.
#3 Ensure law enforcement officials apply non-violent means before use of force = Use only if non-violent means have proven ineffective = Strict proportional actions only honoring the right to life and the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment + Minimize risk of injury and death + All governments must ensure that arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials is punished as a criminal offense under their laws.
#4 Prohibit firing of live ammunition and rubber/plastic-coated metal bullets unless it is strictly unavoidable for fully trained firearms officers under effective regulation, monitoring and control to use lethal means of force to protect life in self-defense
#5 Prohibit use of toxic chemical irritants and unwarranted injury and death to persons.
#6 Prohibit baton blows aimed at a person’s head, neck and throat, spine, lower back, solar plexus, knees and ankles.
#7 Establish a transparent independent body of medical, scientific, and judicial experts to review and report on the safe development and dangers of non-lethal incapacitating weapons and “less lethal” weapons capable of causing death or injury, as well as arbitrary, abusive and excessive force.
#8 Ensure all officers have appropriate moral, psychological and physical qualities for the effective exercise of their functions and receive continuous and thorough professional human rights based training.
#9 Sign, ratify and strictly implement the Arms Trade Treaty for strict control of all imports, exports, transits, trans-shipments and brokering of all conventional arms
#10 Publicly disclose all existing use of force regulations and any other rules relevant to policing demonstrations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
#11 Ensure that all war crimes and serious human rights violations are Prosecuted.
#12 Conduct independent, impartial and prompt investigations into all reports of Palestinian civilians killed or seriously injured by Israeli forces
#13 Provide all victims of Israeli crimes under international law with full reparations = Financial compensation + Other forms of reparation
#14 Israeli forces MUST protect Palestinian civilians and their property against violence by Israeli settlers. = Especially Palestinian schoolchildren and other civilians in areas where there is a danger of settler violence.
#15 Sign and ratify, without reservations, international human rights treaties including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and international humanitarian law treaties including the Geneva Conventions.
#16 Ensure that the bodies of individuals who have been killed by security forces in the West Bank receive autopsies.
#17 Suspend transfers to Israel of munitions, weapons, and related equipment including crowd control weapons and devices, training and techniques until substantive steps have been taken by Israel to achieve accountability for previous violations. This recommendation is particular relevant to the USA, as the largest foreign source of supply of weapons, munitions, police equipment and military aid to Israel.
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