Israeli soldiers go unpunished for killing Palestinian civilians
Source : Mohammed Mar`i | Arab News
RAMALLAH | 14 Sep 2010
An Israeli human rights organization said that the Israeli military authorities consistently refrain from investigating cases where Palestinian civilians are killed by Israeli soldiers.
B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, said in its new report released on Tuesday that soldiers who kill Palestinians in the West Bank are seldom punished, even when circumstances clearly indicate foul play.
B’Tselem based its report, called “Void of Responsibility”, on the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) actions over the past four years, saying there was a clear pattern of avoiding launching full scale Israeli military police investigations in such cases.
The reports lists 148 cases detailing 288 Palestinian civilian deaths, between 2006 and 2009 — excluding the Israeli offensive on Gaza Strip on early 2009 — which it asked the military to investigate.
The group said that during the period in question, the Israeli forces killed 1,510 Palestinians, 617 of them non-combatants; but according to the group, out of its 148 requests only 22 — less than 15 percent — were investigated, 29 cases were closed, 16 cases are pending decision on prosecution, and the rest are still pending decision on further review.
B’Tselem claims that JAG decided to closed cases even when there was basis to assume foul play, adding that its analysis indicated that the Military Prosecution prefers to base its decision in army inquests and soldiers testimonies, while disregarding eye witness reports and other evidence, which contradict the soldiers’ accounts.
B’Tselem warned that such policy gives soldiers de facto immunity, and in applying it, the Israeli military “fails to do its duty to spare no effort in minimizing civilian casualties.”
Moreover, the report claims this policy “allows soldiers to violate the law and encourages them to act in a trigger-happy manner, while blatantly disregarding human lives.”
