Last night, Israeli forces committed another extra-judicial execution. According to LAW’s investigation and eyewitness accounts, at 23.00 on Sunday evening, Israeli forces raided the village of Burqa near Nablus and surrounded the home of Muhammad Faroniya. At that time a number of
Palestinian political activists were at his home.

Khaled Sif (41), who is married and has four children, received a call on his cellular phone. In order to get a better signal he went to the balcony. The minute he stood at the balcony, Israeli forces shot him in the head and killed him. After he heard the shot, Muhammad Faroniya, who
is married and has six children, walked to the balcony. Israeli forces opened fire and also shot Muhammad Faroniya, wounding him in his chest and abdomen.

Mahmoud Faroniya, Muhammad’s brother, tried to save his borther, but Israeli forces pointed their guns at him and was prevented from doing so. Muhammad bled to death. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces deliberately left Muhammad Faroniya bleeding for ninety minutes.

Before withdrawing their troops, Israeli forces arrested four Palestinians and took them to an unknown destination: Mahmoud Faroniya (30), Baha Daghlas (27), Ayman Daghlas (31), and Khaled Daghlas (21).

Extra-judicial killings cannot be reconciled with the Fourth Geneva Convention, which seek to protect the lives of protected persons, and violate human rights norms that affirm the right to life and the prohibition on execution of civilians. The circumstances under which most extra-judicial executions are carried out, suggest complete disregard for the risk involved to the lives of bystanders.

Until today, LAW and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) have not received a response to the urgent request submitted on July 25, 2002 to the Israeli Supreme Court based on their former petition (769/02) to the Court demanding to immediately issue an interim injunction ordering Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the Minister of Defense Benyamin Eliezer, the Israeli army and Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon to end the policy of assassinations.

Since the submission of the original petition, 42 persons, who have been targeted for assassination have been killed along with fourteen bystanders. This is in addition to 53 Palestinians, who have been targeted for assassination, of which 21 were confirmed by official Israeli reports, in addition to at least 25 bystanders who were killed from the beginning of the Intifada and until the date of the submission of the original petition.

LAW strongly condemns Israel’s assassination policy. Israel is legally responsible for the acts of its agents, and is under corresponding obligations to ensure that its agents adhere to the Convention and to prosecute those agents who commit grave breaches. All state signatories to the Fourth Geneva Convention have also the right and are under a positive obligation to seek out and prosecute individuals responsible for committing or commissioning grave breaches, whereever the perpetrators be. Article 148 of the Fourth Geneva states that ‘no High Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve itself or any other High Contracting Party of any liability incurred by itself or by any other High Contracting Party…’

Israel’s ongoing human rights violations further illustrates the need for the immediate deployment of an international protection presence to prevent violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and to protect Palestinian protected persons within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, PO Box 20873, Jerusalem, tel. +972-2-5833530, fax. +972-2-5833317, Email: law@lawsociety.org, web: www.lawsociety.org