Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumCommanders ordered live fire ambush of teens, though they posed no danger. 14-year-old killed
Full Title:
Internal information in the Yusef a-Shawamreh killing reveals: Commanders ordered live fire ambush of teens, though they posed no danger. The result: a 14-year-old killed, no one held accountable
Yusef a-Shawamreh next to the Separation Barrier. Photo: 'Abed Al-Hashlamoun, EPA
In March 2014 soldiers shot and killed Yusef a-Shawamreh, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, as he went through a gap in the Separation Barrier in the area of the village of Deir al-Asal al-Foqa, southwest of Hebron, to pick edible plants in order to help provide for his family. BTselem's Investigation, as well as material from the Military Police Investigation Unit (MPIU) file indicate that he was shot in broad daylight, although he posed no danger. In July 2014, roughly four months after the incident took place, then-Military Advocate for Operational Matters Lt. Col. Ronen Hirsch notified BTselem that the Military Advocate General (MAG) had decided to close the investigation without serving any indictments as there was no suspicion that the open-fire regulations had been breached or that any military personnel were involved in criminal action. In the letter, Lt. Col. Hirsch wrote that four soldiers who had mounted an ambush spotted three Palestinians sabotaging and crossing the Separation Barrier. The soldiers then carried out suspect apprehension procedure, ending with one soldier shooting at the lower part of a-Shawamrehs leg. However, according to Lt. Col. Hirsch, the shot mistakenly hit a-Shawamreh in the waist, killing him.
BTselem wrote to the MPIU and requested a copy of the investigation file. The organization was sent a partial copy only, including video footage taken by a military surveillance camera. While the information in the file revealed errors in BTselems initial inquiry, it corroborated its conclusions and highlighted the particularly appalling aspects of the incident. According to the file, on 19 March 2014, three Palestinians an 18-year-old and two minors went up to several gaps in the Separation Barrier that had long been used by Palestinian teenagers to cross through and pick edible Gundelia plants from their families land on the other side. The military had sealed the gaps in the fence the previous evening, and the ambush soldiers reinforced the seal with metal wire and plastic handcuffs upon its arrival at the area. When the three teenagers found the gaps closed, they began removing the wires from one of them. When they were done, they crossed the fence and the adjacent buffer zone. Only then did two of the soldiers reveal themselves. They called out to the boys to stop, fired two warning shots in the air, and then fatally shot 14-year-old a-Shawamreh.
Summary of the military surveillance footage. Click here to watch all the footage sent to BTselem by the military.
BTselems examination of the MPIU file found that the military investigation was sloppy and partial. No apparent attempt was made to reconcile the contradicting versions given by the suspects and by witnesses, and the responsibility of the commanders who decided to mount an armed ambush at the spot was utterly ignored.
http://www.btselem.org/accountability/20141106_shawamreh_investigation_unprofessional
oberliner
(58,724 posts)This B'tselem report sort of buries the fact that their initial report on this incident was error-filled.
Here's what they had written originally:
The decision to mount an armed ambush at a point in the barrier known to be crossed by youths, who pose no danger whatsoever to anyone, for the purpose of harvesting plants is highly questionable. It also indicates, at the very least, extremely faulty discretion on the part of the commanders. Moreover BTselems findings are markedly different from the description given by the IDF Spokesperson: the youths made no attempt at vandalism; they were crossing through a long-existing breach, and the soldiers did not carry out suspect arrest procedure, shooing at a-Shawamreh with no advance warning.
http://www.btselem.org/firearms/20140326_killing_of_yusef_a_shawamreh_deir_al_asal
And now, they acknowledge:
The military had sealed the gaps in the fence the previous evening, and the ambush soldiers reinforced the seal with metal wire and plastic handcuffs upon its arrival at the area. When the three teenagers found the gaps closed, they began removing the wires from one of them. When they were done, they crossed the fence and the adjacent buffer zone.
and:
They called out to the boys to stop, fired two warning shots in the air...
(From OP)
It is good of B'tselem to admit that their original report was BS.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)in an attempt to highlight inconsistencies in a report.
1) The 14 year old lives in Palestine.
2) The "separation barrier" is built by Israel on Palestinian land.
3) It separates Palestinians from their own fields.
4) A 14 year old child broke through a barrier that is illegal under International Law.
5) The Israelis killed the child.
Is this the Israeli version of winning hearts and minds?
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)The investigators did not ask the commander why he had decided, by sealing the gaps, to frame anyone crossing the fence as suspected of a dangerous offense. They also did not question why the soldiers needed a clean line of fire, as they were perfectly capable of stopping anyone who approached the fence, and with less injurious means.
The deputy commander of the 77th battalion of the Armored Corps, Major Avishay, testified before the MPIU that the area in which the incident took place is known for frequent sabotage of the Separation Barrier to enable smuggling of goods from the West Bank into Israel. He added that in springtime, when a-Shawamreh was shot, the military knows that Palestinians frequently cross the fence to pick the Gundelia plants
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)gives us an idea why.