State to pay NIS 1.6 million over killing of Palestinian girl
Abir Aramin was killed in 2007 from a rubber bullet fired by Border Guard officer during dispersion of violent riot in east Jerusalem, now court rules that State must compensate her family
Over a year after it determined that the State was responsible for the death of Palestinian girl Abir Aramin, the Jerusalem District Court, presided by Judge Orit Efal-Gabai, ruled that the state must pay NIS 1.6 million ($430,000) in compensation to the family of Abir Aramin, a Palestinian girl from east Jerusalem who was killed in 2007 from a rubber bullet fired by a Border Guard officer.
The judge said that there was no dispute over the fact that the 10-year-old's death was due to negligence or that the bullet was fired in violation of orders.
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State Prosecutor's Office to close Abir Aramin case
"We are happy that justice has come to light and are still working to award the family compensation for all the suffering it has gone through," the family's attorney Lea Tsemel told ynet.
According to Tsemel, "The father is a peace activist whose attitude has not changed since the incident. that is one positive aspect of this story. The whole thing brings color back into the cheeks of anyone who is trying to make the judicial mechanism establish justice for the victims of the police and military."
Case of Abir Aramin: Dispute between police and B'Tselem (Activestills)
In her ruling the judge said that the State must pay NIS 10,000 (about $2,700) for burial expenses and NIS 674,000 (about $182,000) for "lost years". The judge also ruled that the State would compensate the family to the tune of NIS 900,000 (about $243,000) for the way Aramin was killed, her young age, the circumstances surrounding the case and the customary sum of compensation awarded in similar cases.
Abir was killed in January 2007 near her school in the village of Anta north of Jerusalem, where Border Guard forces were dispersing a violent riot.
Police adamantly claimed that according to the autopsy, the child was killed from a stone – but a week after the incident, her family, with the help of the B'Tselem organization, published a pathologist's report stating she was hit by a rubber bullet.
In July of this year the High Court rejected a petition demanding that the two Border Guard officers involved in the incident be brought to trial.
Yet at the same time the court also expressed harsh criticism against the police and the State Prosecutor's Office's handling of the case and called the investigation "negligent and lacking". The High court also ruled that the State and the officers must pay NIS 10,000 in costs.
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