[GushShalomPress] Thou shallst not punish the father for the sins of the son
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Sat Jul 20 14:17:25 IDT 2002
GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - http://www.gush-shalom.org/
We want to share with you the well-founded statement of the Al Haq Human Rights
Organization in Ramallah. After it, in the end of this mail, we also give the translation
of a Gush Shalom statement sent yesterday to the Israeli press, immediately after
the news of the arrest and planned deportation.
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "Al-Haq" <haq at alhaq.org>
Subject: Al-Haq Press Release # 132
Date sent: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 09:35:16 +0200
For Immediate Release
Al-Haq Press Release # 132
19 July 2002
Al-Haq Condemns the Arrest and Threatened Deportation of
Family Members of Wanted Men and the Demolitions of their Homes
Israeli forces entered into the village of Tel and the Asker Refugee Camp,
both near Nablus, and arrested family members of several wanted individuals.
According to Israeli sources 21 men were arrested. However, at this time
Al-Haq has only been able to confirm the identities of 17 of the men arrested.
The army also destroyed the homes of two of the wanted men. According to Israeli
sources a decision has been taken to deport the arrested men from the West Bank
to Gaza. The implementation of this decision is awaiting final approval of
Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein, but high-level government officials
including Foreign Minister Shimon Peres have already raised their voices in
support of the deportations.
According to Al-Haq’s fieldworker in Nablus Israeli forces entered into the
village of Tel during the early hours of this morning and carried out raids on a
number of homes in the village. One of the first homes searched was that of
Naser‘idin Mustafa Asida. Naser is a member of Hamas and is wanted by the
Israeli authorities on suspicion that he was connected with the attack near the
settlement of Emmanuel earlier this week. Although the soldiers were unable to
find Naser they arrested his father, Mustafa (62) and his four brothers: Abdul
Nasser (34), Nasserallah (31), Qazem (23) and Assem (21). The soldiers also
blew up Naser’s home using dynamite without allowing his family to remove any of
their possessions. The explosion damaged another 20 homes located nearby,
several of them seriously.
The homes of Sami Mohammad Samir Sht’ah and Assem Samieh Mohammad
Assideh in Tel were also raided. Both men are wanted by the Israeli authorities on the
suspicion that they are active in Hamas. Sami’s father, age 60, and his five
brothers: Yacoub (35), Jihad (34), Osama (24) Abdul Allmo’ti (19), and Zeidan
(16) were arrested, while Assem’s father, age 54, and brother Hazem (23) were
arrested.
Another raid into Asker Refugee Camp was carried out simultaneously. The
home of Ali Mohammad Ahmed Ajouri was both raided and destroyed. Ali is
wanted by the Israeli authorities under the suspicion that he is a member of
Fateh, and under the suspicion that he was involved in organizing the bombings
that occurred in Tel Aviv earlier this week. Ali lived in a three-story
building that was home to 26 people including six women and twelve children.
The Israeli forces that destroyed the building did not allow its residents to
remove any of their possessions. The explosion damaged ten surrounding
buildings, four of which are now too unstable to be lived in. As a result 62
people have been left homeless. Ali’s father, age 70, and two brothers Kifah
(28) and Ahmed (30) were also arrested. Finally, Dr. Abdel Rahim Handali from
Asker was arrested. His son Mohammad is on Israel’s wanted list.
Most of the men arrested are married and many of them have children. None
of the men are wanted and Israel has made no claim stating that any of the
men have been involved in attacks upon Israel. Their arrests are clearly
meant to serve as a form of collective punishment and Israeli leaders have
stated that they hope that if the men are deported to Gaza other
Palestinians will be dissuaded from participating in actions against Israel and
the Occupation. It must further be noted that the wanted family members of the
men to be deported have also not been afforded due process before a court of
law. Accusations have been made, but no evidence against these men has been
made publicly available, they have not been charged, and they have not been
tried in court.
These arrests follow the decision taken on June 21st by the Israeli
political security cabinet to “in principle” allow the deportation of the
families of individuals accused of having carried out suicide bombings and
of Palestinian activists. This decision and Israel’s deportation policy
were reported on by Al-Haq in an Urgent Action Alert from June 26th.
The Israeli authorities have used transfer and deportation as forms of
punishment since taking control of the West Bank and Gaza, with the first
transfers carried out in September of 1967. Numerous UN resolutions have
condemned the policy and it stands in direct contravention of International
Humanitarian Law. Israel has argued in the past that transfers may be carried
out in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention. Israel has stated that the alleged security threat posed by the
individuals it has transferred or plans to transfer poses a threat to their
ability to maintain control over the Occupied Territories and that the transfers
should therefore be regarded as a military necessity. However, in claiming its
authority to transfer Palestinians inside the territories under Article 49 of
the Fourth Geneva Convention Israel has ignored the limitations placed on such
transfers. According to Article 49 the Occupying Power may only evacuate
protected persons for “imperative military reasons” or for their own safety.
Article 49 also contains the requirement that persons subject to evacuation must
be moved back to their homes as soon as possible.
Regarding the transfers currently under consideration, no justification can be
found. The men who are to be transferred are not wanted, have not committed any
criminal acts, and have never stood trial before a court. No evidence has been
given to show that these men are security threats. They are being forced from
their homes and families and may never have a right to be reunited with their
relatives. These transfers are being advocated as a form of collective
punishment that targets individuals because of their association or relations to
a wanted individual, not because of their own guilt. Such collective punishment
is prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention in Article 33, and by the Hague
Convention of 1907 in Article 50.
The unlawful deportation or transfer of protected persons is a grave
breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention under article 147 and therefore
qualifies as a war crime, and under Article 8, Paragraph 7 of the Rome
statute the deportation or illegal transfer of individuals qualifies as a
war crime.
Judicial procedures, run through the court system, allow for the trial and
if necessary imprisonment of individuals considered a threat to the
Occupying Power. The transfer or deportation of individuals accused of
activities threatening to the Occupying power in effect ignores the judicial
system and allows the political and military structures to impose punishments
upon individuals who have not been provided with a right to defense or trial.
The demolition of the homes of those accused of either carrying out or
planning attacks on Israel are also violations of the above mentioned
articles prohibiting collective punishment. The destruction of the property and
possessions of wanted individuals, their families and their neighbors can not be
justified under the rubric of security, but are punitive measures that punish
not a guilty individual, but instead punish persons accused of having committed
crimes and those around them.
In light of these actions Al-Haq calls for the following:
1. The International Community should immediately call for the release of
the men arrested today, should demand that Israel respects the rights of
innocent individuals and should call upon Israel respect both local and
international law.
2. The International Community must take immediate action by censuring
Israel for these arrests and home demolitions and should censure Israel for its
actions should Israel continue to blatantly disregard the rights of the
Palestinian people.
3. The Security Council of the UN should meet to take concrete actions
to force Israel to end its attacks upon the Palestinian people, and the UN
General Assembly should convene in an Emergency Special Session to
take action to ensure the immediate protection of the civilian Palestinian
population.
[end of Al-Haq press release]
* * *
[The following is the translation of yesterday's Gush Shalom press release.]
GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - http://www.gush-shalom.org/
Gush Shalom: Deportation of suicide bombers' family members
is illegal, immoral and will increase the hatred
July 19, 2002
The idea of deporting the family members of suicide bombers is in contradiction
to the basic principle of all judicial systems - that a person may not be
punished for the acts of somebody else. Among other sources, this basic
principle was introduced into world culture by the Bible, where it is often and
forcefully expressed.
The state of Israel now seems ready to discard that principle, bending the Israeli
legal code in order to violate International law. The inability, or unwillingness on the
side of our politicians to see suicide bombings for what they are: a result of a
too-long-dragged-on occupation leads to Israel being branded as a barbaric country
which tramples upon basic norms of behaviour.
Implementation of this measure can further fan the flames of hatred.
* * *
----
Full transcript of the war crimes panel available on the Gush site
For Hebrew http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum.html
For English http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum_eng.html
French available at request
Also on the site:
photo's - of action or otherwise informative
the weekly Gush Shalom ad - in Hebrew and English
the columns of Uri Avnery - in Hebrew, Arab and English
(and a lot more)
http://www.gush-shalom.org
* *
Palestinian life under occupation, reports and letters
at: http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html
Why are the volunteer international observers important?
Because the United Nations didn't send its protection force.
Information about the International Solidarity Movement
- and how to support it in different ways -
at http://www.palsolidarity.org/
* *
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