Daily News
Briefing
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 -
B'Tselem
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. Earlier this morning, Hassan Rurus, a 43-year-old taxi
driver from Al Fawwar refugee camp in Hebron District, was driving on the bypass
road south of Hebron along with two passengers. At around 11:00 AM, when the
vehicle approached the village of Karma, fire was opened in its direction from
an olive grove on the side of the road. Rurus was hit in the chest. He tried to
get out of the car, but collapsed and died of his wounds. Two IDF soldiers
detained the passengers. The testimony of Karma’s leading dignitary, whose house
overlooks the road, reveals that soldiers who had been hiding in the olive grove
shot at the vehicle without prior incident. (Source: B'Tselem)
2. Ten
days ago, two-year-old Tabaraq Udeh from Deir Al-Hatab in Nablus District, ran
out of medication. The infant suffered from cerebral pulsey and epilepsy. The
IDF has had the village under siege, and Udeh’s medication supply could not be
renewed. Three days ago, her health began to deteriorate. She ceased to
communicate, became unable to stand on her feet, slipped into unconsciousness,
and began to have convulsions. Following many attempts to get her to hospital in
Nablus, a Red Crescent ambulance finally made it to the village yesterday and
Udeh was taken to hospital accompanied by her mother. Today, at around 8:00 AM,
she died. Her attending physician, Dr. Hamid al-Masri, said that Udeh’s death
would have been avoided had she made it to hospital sooner, and had she
continued to take her medication. (Source: B'Tselem)
3. Yesterday
morning, 16-year-old Shadi Yunis left his house in Sa’ir, in Hebron District on
his way to Hebron. Due to IDF imposed restrictions on movement, Yunis had to
stop at Beit ‘Einun junction, half way to Hebron, walk a few hundred meters and
carry on in a different taxi. At 11:00 AM, while walking near Beit ‘Einun, IDF
soldiers shot at him from inside a jeep and hit his right hand. Yunis ran away,
but the soldiers shot at him again. This time, two bullets hit him in the right
leg. He managed to find shelter in the home of relatives in Beit ‘Einun, but the
soldiers shot at the house as well. One of its residents, 24-year-old Ashraf
a-Taradeh, was hit in the left hand. The two were taken to ‘Alia hospital in
Hebron. (Source: B'Tselem)
4. On April 15, 2002, at 6:00 AM, IDF soldiers
began shooting at a residential building in the town of Ad-Doha in Bethlehem
District. The shooting carried on for two hours. A resident of the building,
24-year-old Rana Karajeh was killed and her 8-month-old baby was injured. At
8:00 AM, the soldiers ordered the residents to vacate the building. The soldiers
then detained ten of the men, and locked the rest of the residents in a
warehouse, located 50 meters away from the building. The soldiers kept shooting
at the building for many hours, apparently thinking that there were armed
Palestinians inside. At around 10:00 PM that night, the soldiers searched the
apartments, using two of the building’s residents as human shields. The
residents were allowed to leave the warehouse only yesterday, at 6:00 PM, after
over a day without food or drink. They are now staying in other people’s homes
because of the massive damage the shooting has done their apartments. (Source:
B'Tselem)
5. Yesterday, a group of European and North American nationals
delivered food and medical supplies to residents of Balata refugee camp, in
Nablus. After the distribution the group started on its way back to Nablus,
accompanied by six Palestinian medical staff members. The group was detained at
the exit from the camp for about two hours. The soldiers would not allow the
Palestinians through, and threatened to forcibly remove them. The foreign
nationals attempted to form a human chain to protect the Palestinians, but the
soldiers and some border police officers who had arrived at the scene began to
beat and verbally abuse those present. Three soldiers dragged a UK national to
the middle of the road and kicked him in the ribs and lower back. Another member
of the group was dragged face down on the pavement and another suffered a
concussion after being kneed in the head. The soldiers handcuffed four of the
Palestinians and beat them severely. They shattered cameras, video recorders and
cell phones and confiscated film and videotapes. During the confrontation, one
of the European nationals handed his cell phone to a soldier so that he may
speak to his lawyer. The soldier responded that there was no need, because “We
are above the law” and smashed the cell phone. (Source: B'Tselem)
6.
Yesterday, at around 4:00 PM, police officers arrived at ‘Alaa ‘Obeid’s home in
Al ‘Eissayiweh, in East Jerusalem and ordered its residents to leave. The police
officers gathered women and children from the village in the local schoolyard.
‘Obeid was taken along with other men to the nearby Jerusalem-Ma’le Edomin road
where his was interrogated. At around 8:00 PM, he was taken to the schoolyard,
where he remained for seven hours. While in the schoolyard, ‘Essayiweh’s
residents received no food, drink or blankets. When the soldiers let the village
residents leave at 3:00AM, they had to stay at the homes of relatives and
friends, because the police did not allow them to return to their own homes. At
around 10:00 AM this morning, the ‘Obeid family returned to their home to find
their door and windows shattered and the furniture broken and sprayed with
bullet holes. (Source: B'Tselem)
7. At 3:00 this morning, the IDF
detained 41-year-old Muhamad Daraghmeh from Nablus. Daraghmeh is married with
three children and works as a journalist with AP and Al-Ayyam. He and some of
his neighbors were taken from their building to an IDF camp in Huwwara. He was
held in difficult conditions until 11:00 PM and then released. On his way home
he heard gunfire and asked the soldiers at a nearby checkpoint to return to the
army base and stay overnight. The soldiers took his identification card and told
him to stand 200 meters away from the checkpoint. At 2:00 AM, the forced him to
leave the place. He spent the night at the home of a Palestinian family in the
area and carried on his way the next day. At the entrance to Balata refugee
camp, IDF soldiers ordered him to take his clothes off and verbally abused him.
An hour later they gave him a white flag and released him. (Source:
B'Tselem)
B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights
in the Occupied Territories is the leading Israeli organization monitoring,
documenting and advocating to improve human rights in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip. Founded in 1989, B'Tselem publishes reports, engages in advocacy and
serves as a resource center.
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