B'tselem Field Report for April 10, 2002 by B'tselem Israeli Human Rights Organization 8:22am Thu Apr 11 '02 Following, is a report of some of the human rights violations carried out today in the Occupied Territories. The events included in this report are only those about which human rights organizations have been able to obtain information. print article Following, is a report of some of the human rights violations carried out today in the Occupied Territories. The events included in this report are only those about which human rights organizations have been able to obtain information. The incidents listed represent only a minute portion of the human rights violations being committed throughout the West Bank. This report paints only a partial picture and does not necessarily reflect the worst of the human rights violations being perpetrated. Most of the information below was received by telephone, since fieldworkers are unable to reach the victims and eyewitnesses in order to collect testimonies in person. The information has been verified to the greatest extent possible given the current circumstances. 1. Yesterday morning at 5:15 AM, two residents of Dura, Hebron District, 33-year-old - Aref Mahmud Sayid Ahmad and 32-year-old Na'if Salem Sayid Ahmad were on their way home from morning prayers at a mosque in the town. When they were ten meters away from - Aref Ahmad's house, a missile was shot from a helicopter and killed both men. The explosion caused a fire in - Aref Ahmad's home. His wife and eight-year-old daughter sustained head injuries from the shrapnel. Faruq, Na'if Ahmad's brother, sustained a serious leg injury. Due to the curfew imposed on the city, it was impossible to send an ambulance to evacuate the injured and the bodies of the deceased. They are still in Na'if Ahmad's house. (Source: B'Tselem) 2. 35-year-old Taher - Abd a-Dudin, a resident of Dura, suffering from mental retardation, left his house yesterday at 8:00 AM to buy cigarettes. When he saw soldiers on the street, he got frightened and began to run away in the direction of his house. The soldiers shot him dead. His body is in the Dura municipality building. (Source: B'Tselem) 3. On Sunday, April 7, 2002, at 11AM, six soldiers entered the home of 43-year-old Nabil Nadim Nur a-Din in the old city of Nablus and conducted a search. Following the search, the soldiers demanded Nur a-Din go out into the street and clear the obstacles on the side of the road. He refused, as fire exchanges were taking place at the time. He told the soldiers: "Even if you shoot me, I will not go out to the street. "In response, one of the soldiers aimed his weapon at Nur a-Din's knee and shot him. After this, the soldiers ordered Nur a-Din's son, Ahmad, to clear the road. Ahmad left the house with them, but managed to escape. Nabil Nur a-Din made it to Rafidia hospital in Nablus yesterday, April 9, 2002, where he is still being treated. (Source: B'Tselem) 4. 30-year-old Muhammad Abu Hatab was killed near - Askar refugee camp, in Nablus District on April 5, 2002. His body remained in an open field, 5 meters away from the road, visible to the soldiers nearby. A Palestinian who had attempted to evacuate the body was caught by the soldiers who then beat him, took his clothes off and took him away without allowing him to remove the body. Yesterday, at 10:30, the Red Crescent attempted to remove the body. Soldiers shot at them. Only today, April 10, 2002, at 5:30 PM, did the IDF allow the removal of the body. (Source: B'Tselem) 5. On Sunday, April 7, 2002, a little after 9:00 PM, shots were fired in the direction of the house of the S. family, near old - Askar refugee camp. As a result, the family's father, a 65-year-old man was killed and his 32-year-old daughter S.H, sustained a bullet injury to the chest. Only on Monday afternoon, following coordination with the IDF, was a Red Crescent ambulance sent to the house to take the daughter to hospital. However, soldiers shot at the ambulance and ordered its crew to leave the place. As of this afternoon S.H has not yet been evacuated to hospital. (Source: HaMoked - Center for the Defense of the Individual) 6. 63-year-old Hafez Mahmud Sabra was shot and killed on April 7, 2002 in - Askar refugee camp in Nablus District. At 7:00 PM, Sabra went to his yard and handed a jar of water to his neighbors. A tank, located 300 meters from his house, shot and killed him. Shrapnel hit his 36-year-old daughter, Suna Hafez Mahmud Sabra who sustained injuries to the back and head. She was inside the house while the shooting took place. Because ambulances are not allowed to move, the family resorted to burying the father in their yard. Suna Sabra made it to Rafidia hospital only last night, April 9, 2002, where she is being treated. (Source: B'Tselem) 7. As of Thursday, April 4, 2002, there are 28 kidney patients in Jenin who cannot make it to hospital for dialysis treatment. Attempts made by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel to coordinate their arrival to the hospital have failed. Only on Sunday, after at least four days without dialysis treatment, were four of the 28 taken to hospital. Sources at the hospital in Jenin do not know what happened to the remaining 24 patients. As of the early evening, electricity to the hospital is cut off. An IDF armored vehicle is stationed at the entrance to the hospital, preventing anyone leaving or entering. (Source: Physicians for Human Rights) 8. Seven IDF soldiers patrol the village of Sabastiya in Nablus District once daily. In the last few days, the patrol has been conducted by the same group of soldiers. Each day, the soldiers choose a house at random and throw shock and tear gas grenades into it. Yesterday, while sitting at a cafe near the village's historic ruins, the soldiers stopped passers by and beat them. B'Tselem appealed to the IDF spokesperson in a demand to investigate this case and prevent its reoccurrence, but has yet to receive a response. (Source: B'Tselem) 9. On April 4, 2002, 13-year-old Ghania -Othman Khalil Kharameh was shot while in her home in Ras Al -Ein neighborhood in Nablus. The bullet hit her arm and chest. Only today, six days after the injury, was her evacuation to hospital made possible. (Source: B'Tselem) 10. Detainees: There are 1,000 detainees held in Ofer military camp, between 1,000 and 1,500 at Megiddo military prison, 100 in the detention facility in Salem, opened near Jenin and several dozens in permanent detention facilities in the West Bank. Detainees released from Ofer reported harsh holding conditions. Among other things, they reported insufficient food, overcrowding, being cold, humiliation and beatings. Some of the detainees are forced to sleep on wooden planks and thin mattresses. With the increase in the number of detainees, each one has a 40-centimeter wide space to sleep in, and some do not even have that. The OC Central Commander has issued a sweeping order pertaining to all detainees that bans meetings with lawyers. As a result, a close examination of holding conditions is impossible. On Sunday, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition of four human rights organizations which demanded to be allowed into the Ofer military camp. (Source: HaMoked - Center for the Defense of the Individual) www.btselem.org/ add your comments Source file

Not In My Name by Leviah Adinah 10:26pm Thu Apr 11 '02 print comment My heart weeps for the Palestinian people caught in this horrific situation, between two power driven, vengeful groups. As a Jew, as well as as a human being, my heart hurts - where is the sense of justice, of being on the side of the underdog, of those in need. The IDF and Sharon and those who support him do not speak or act in my name. I urge ALL Jews worldwide to speak loud and clear these words, NOT IN MY NAME, and to support justice and peace for all who are in the Holy Land, regardless of religion or race. Let the voices of sanity stand strong, nonviolently, bravely, and together, and end this horror. Thank you to those of you, esp. in Israel, such as B'Tselem, who are already doing this. The time is now to be heard before it is too late. add your comments