Officers sentenced following boy's death
In July 2003, tragic accident occurred next to Samaria roadblock during which 3-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead; two junior officers were indicted of neglecting their duties and sentenced to labor
The lethal accident occurred on July 25, 2003, when soldiers pulled over a Palestinian family’s car at the Falcon (Baz) 1 roadblock, located near the West Bank village of Barataa.
When the car pulled over, one of the soldiers’ weapon accidentally fired in the direction of an automatic machine gun, located atop one of the armored vehicles. In a matter of seconds, the unlocked machine gun opened fire directly at the infant, who died instantantly in the arms of his mother and grandmother, who were seated with him in the car.
Both officers - ‘green’
Second Lieutenant T., who was the commander of the troops the night before the incident, was accused of not verifying that the machine gun was empty and locked at the end of the night’s activities.
Second Lieutenant D., who had received command over the roadblock’s troops from the hands of T. in the morning, was accused of not checking the machine gun and not instructing his soldiers to do so.
At the time of the incident, both officers were fresh out of officers' training, a fact their attorneys mentioned time and again during the trail. In addition, officer D. expressed his remorse when he said, "The event will accompany me for many years.”
Different levels of guilt
The judges determined the difference in the defendants’ levels of guilt. In their arguments, the judges said that being asked about the machine gun’s state by one of his soldiers, should have “lit a red light,” and caused him to check the machine gun further and prevent the accident.
Accordingly, they sentenced T. to four months of work on a military base, whereas D. was sentenced to one. The martial court rebuked the senior officers indirectly responsible for the roadblock and its operational safety regulations.
