Military Advocate General Avi Mandelblit
Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
Petition: Probe troops who killed Palestinians
Yesh Din human rights group asks High Court to launch criminal investigation into incident described by army as thwarted terror attack. Two cousins shot and killed in incident after allegedly attacking soldiers with broken bottle, pitchfork
The Yesh Din human rights organization filed a petition with the High Court of Justice on Wednesday, demanding that it order the military advocate general to launch a criminal investigation into the shooting and killing
of two 19-year-old Palestinians by Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the Nablus area.
Yesh Din said the two men, who were cousins, made a living from agriculture. "They were killed by an IDF soldier under circumstances raising heavy suspicions that a serious criminal offense had been committed," the petition said.
On the day of the incident, which took place in March in the village of Awarta, the army said the soldiers had thwarted a terror attack, during which the two men disguised as farmers tried to attack the troops with a broken bottle and a pitchfork.
Inquiry
Two March incidents in which four Palestinians were shot by IDF could have been avoided, according to Central Command inquiry. 'Soldiers must distinguish between life threatening situations and those incidents where the use of common sense can resolve matters without casualties,' senior officer says
"Although the circumstances of the incident have not been clarified, there is a real risk that they won't be clarified in the future as well, while the military advocate general continues to avoid investigating the incidents."
According to the petition, an autopsy conducted at the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus revealed that one of the men was shot seven times in the upper part of his body, while the second one was hit by three bullets, two of them apparently shot from very close range.
"Military sources admitted that the nature of the incident was not as clear as described by the force's soldiers," Yesh Din said. "Two weeks after the incident, Central Command Chief Avi Mizrahi admitted that the results of the incident in Awarta were 'serious.'"
The organization, which helped the two men's parents file the petition, wrote that "avoiding launching a criminal investigation is outrageous and thwarts any possibility of conducting an effective and thorough investigation.
"This is a decision which conveys, in a loud and clear manner, to all IDF soldiers engaged in security activity in the West Bank, that when an incident ends with the death of a Palestinian, there is no justification in opening a criminal investigation."
The petitioners warned that with the absence of a thorough investigation, "the move exposes the suspects to an investigation and prosecution for committing war crimes in different places worldwide."
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