14 july 2020
More than 80 Palestinian, regional, and international civil society organizations from across 16 countries submitted yesterday a joint urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Procedures on the extrajudicial execution and willful killing of Ahmad Mustafa Erekat, 26, by the Israeli occupying forces, in cooperation with the Erekat family, urging international justice and accountability for Israel’s shoot-to-kill policy targeting Palestinians.
Erekat, a resident of Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, was shot dead by Israeli forces at a checkpoint near Bethlehem on 23 June.
“Ahmad was shot with lethal force by Israeli soldiers in the absence of necessity and without posing a threat to life or serious injury. He was then left to bleed to death for an hour and a half, while the Israeli occupying forces denied him access to medical care, despite the presence of an Israeli ambulance at the scene. They also prevented a Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance from reaching Ahmad,” said the organizations.
“Under international law, the killing of Ahmad Erekat amounts to an extrajudicial execution and a willful killing, giving rise to individual criminal responsibility as a war crime at the International Criminal Court (ICC),” they said.
Erekat was the 21st Palestinian killed by the Israeli forces throughout the occupied Palestinian territory during the first half of 2020. Less than a month before his killing, the Israeli forces killed Iyad Hallaq in occupied East Jerusalem while he was on his way to a day center for persons with disabilities in the Old City, “in what amounts to an extrajudicial execution, a willful killing, and war crime,” said the organizations.
“The killings of Ahmad Erekat and Iyad Hallaq, as well as countless Palestinians, must be understood within the context of Israel’s widespread and systematic shoot-to-kill policy targeting Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line,” they said.
Al-Haq human rights organization said it has documented an escalation in Israel’s use of lethal force against Palestinians over the past five years, resulting in the killing of 754 Palestinians by the Israeli occupying forces in the occupied Palestinian territory since October 2015. “Israel’s pervasive impunity must be seen as part and parcel of its institutionalized regime of systematic racial oppression and domination over the Palestinian people, which constitutes the crime of apartheid,” said al-Haq.
Since the killing, Erekat’s body has been punitively withheld by the Israeli occupying authorities, as unlawful collective punishment, thereby prolonging his family’s suffering and denying him a dignified burial. The Israeli occupying forces continue to withhold the bodies of 63 Palestinians, under the pretext of using them as “bargaining chips.” In addition, the bodies of at least 253 Palestinians have been languishing, yet to be identified, in Israel’s “cemeteries of numbers.”
In 2016, the UN Committee against Torture considered that the practice of withholding Palestinians’ bodies amounts to prohibited ill-treatment, and called on Israel, the Occupying Power, to “take the measures necessary to return the bodies of the Palestinians that have not yet been returned to their relatives as soon as possible so they can be buried in accordance with their traditions and religious customs, and to avoid that similar situations are repeated in the future.”
Accordingly, the organizations urgently called for international justice and accountability to put an end to Israeli impunity and urged the UN human rights experts to publicly condemn the killing of Ahmad Erekat, to call for the unconditional release of Ahmad’s body as well as the bodies of all Palestinians punitively withheld by the Israeli occupying authorities, and to call on Israel, the Occupying Power, to revise its rules of engagement for the use of live fire.
The organizations also called on the Special Procedures to “Recognize Israel’s systematic shoot-to-kill policy as contributing to the maintenance of Israel’s apartheid regime of systematic racial oppression and domination over the Palestinian people as a whole, which, embedded in a system of impunity, prevents Palestinians from effectively challenging Israel’s apartheid policies and practices.” As stressed by the Erekat family, “These killings are taking place in a broader context of apartheid and settler-colonial expansion.”
Overall, the organizations endorsed calls by the Erekat family for international justice and accountability, including for Israel’s shoot-to-kill policy. They requested that the UN Special Procedures urge third States to activate universal jurisdiction mechanisms to try suspected perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity in their own jurisdictions, and to call for “the immediate opening, without any further delay, of a full, thorough, and comprehensive ICC investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine.”
Finally, the groups urged “Member States and the UN at large to address the root causes prolonging Palestinian oppression, including by bringing an end to Israel’s prolonged occupation and illegal annexation of Jerusalem, lifting the Gaza closure with immediate effect, and dismantling Israel’s apartheid regime over the Palestinian people as a whole, in order to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to return to their homes, lands, and property, as mandated by international law.”
The organizations addressed their appeal to five UN Special Rapporteurs, including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism.
Erekat, a resident of Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, was shot dead by Israeli forces at a checkpoint near Bethlehem on 23 June.
“Ahmad was shot with lethal force by Israeli soldiers in the absence of necessity and without posing a threat to life or serious injury. He was then left to bleed to death for an hour and a half, while the Israeli occupying forces denied him access to medical care, despite the presence of an Israeli ambulance at the scene. They also prevented a Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance from reaching Ahmad,” said the organizations.
“Under international law, the killing of Ahmad Erekat amounts to an extrajudicial execution and a willful killing, giving rise to individual criminal responsibility as a war crime at the International Criminal Court (ICC),” they said.
Erekat was the 21st Palestinian killed by the Israeli forces throughout the occupied Palestinian territory during the first half of 2020. Less than a month before his killing, the Israeli forces killed Iyad Hallaq in occupied East Jerusalem while he was on his way to a day center for persons with disabilities in the Old City, “in what amounts to an extrajudicial execution, a willful killing, and war crime,” said the organizations.
“The killings of Ahmad Erekat and Iyad Hallaq, as well as countless Palestinians, must be understood within the context of Israel’s widespread and systematic shoot-to-kill policy targeting Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line,” they said.
Al-Haq human rights organization said it has documented an escalation in Israel’s use of lethal force against Palestinians over the past five years, resulting in the killing of 754 Palestinians by the Israeli occupying forces in the occupied Palestinian territory since October 2015. “Israel’s pervasive impunity must be seen as part and parcel of its institutionalized regime of systematic racial oppression and domination over the Palestinian people, which constitutes the crime of apartheid,” said al-Haq.
Since the killing, Erekat’s body has been punitively withheld by the Israeli occupying authorities, as unlawful collective punishment, thereby prolonging his family’s suffering and denying him a dignified burial. The Israeli occupying forces continue to withhold the bodies of 63 Palestinians, under the pretext of using them as “bargaining chips.” In addition, the bodies of at least 253 Palestinians have been languishing, yet to be identified, in Israel’s “cemeteries of numbers.”
In 2016, the UN Committee against Torture considered that the practice of withholding Palestinians’ bodies amounts to prohibited ill-treatment, and called on Israel, the Occupying Power, to “take the measures necessary to return the bodies of the Palestinians that have not yet been returned to their relatives as soon as possible so they can be buried in accordance with their traditions and religious customs, and to avoid that similar situations are repeated in the future.”
Accordingly, the organizations urgently called for international justice and accountability to put an end to Israeli impunity and urged the UN human rights experts to publicly condemn the killing of Ahmad Erekat, to call for the unconditional release of Ahmad’s body as well as the bodies of all Palestinians punitively withheld by the Israeli occupying authorities, and to call on Israel, the Occupying Power, to revise its rules of engagement for the use of live fire.
The organizations also called on the Special Procedures to “Recognize Israel’s systematic shoot-to-kill policy as contributing to the maintenance of Israel’s apartheid regime of systematic racial oppression and domination over the Palestinian people as a whole, which, embedded in a system of impunity, prevents Palestinians from effectively challenging Israel’s apartheid policies and practices.” As stressed by the Erekat family, “These killings are taking place in a broader context of apartheid and settler-colonial expansion.”
Overall, the organizations endorsed calls by the Erekat family for international justice and accountability, including for Israel’s shoot-to-kill policy. They requested that the UN Special Procedures urge third States to activate universal jurisdiction mechanisms to try suspected perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity in their own jurisdictions, and to call for “the immediate opening, without any further delay, of a full, thorough, and comprehensive ICC investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine.”
Finally, the groups urged “Member States and the UN at large to address the root causes prolonging Palestinian oppression, including by bringing an end to Israel’s prolonged occupation and illegal annexation of Jerusalem, lifting the Gaza closure with immediate effect, and dismantling Israel’s apartheid regime over the Palestinian people as a whole, in order to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to return to their homes, lands, and property, as mandated by international law.”
The organizations addressed their appeal to five UN Special Rapporteurs, including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism.
8 july 2020
In the summer of 2014, Al Mezan and LPHR worked together to examine egregious acts of horror against civilians in Gaza, trapped in a closed-off territory while under military bombardment run by Israel’s political and military leadership; its emblematic feature being that dozens of entire families were killed and maimed by targeted military attacks against family homes for the duration of the military offensive between 7 July and 26 August.
For six years, Al Mezan and LPHR have worked relentlessly on behalf of victims, survivors and their families to pursue accountability for clearly apparent serious violations of international criminal, humanitarian and human rights law; including engagement at the international level with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry into the 2014 Gaza Conflict.
Reflecting the empirical evidence, Al Mezan and LPHR have voiced grave concerns about the systemic impunity deeply embedded within Israel’s military investigation process, despite which Al Mezan engages with in good faith to seek legal redress, accountability and justice for victims, survivors and their families.
However, the appalling and clearly foreseeable pattern of impunity repeats itself year after year. No criminal charges, prosecutions, or convictions for clearly apparent serious violations against civilians in Gaza during the 2014 military bombardment. No genuine investigations, no legal accountability, no justice for victims, survivors and their families. Gross injustice and total systemic impunity prevailing. Six years on it is overwhelmingly clear to our organisations that Israel is unwilling to provide genuine investigations for these grave cases.
For six years, the authoritative words of the UN independent Commission of Inquiry into the 2014 Gaza Conflict have remained gravely extant: “The commission is concerned that impunity prevails across the board for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law allegedly committed by Israeli forces, whether it be in the context of active hostilities in Gaza or killings, torture, and ill-treatment in the West Bank.” [bolded for emphasis by Al Mezan and LPHR]
The empirical record is plainly and strikingly clear: Israel is unwilling to hold its political and military leadership to account. The output of the fundamentally flawed investigation system unquestionably activates the mandate of the ICC. It is accordingly and necessarily incumbent on the ICC Prosecutor to meet the hope and imperative of victims, survivors and their families, and bring an end to the devastating cycle of systemic impunity.
-The recurrent serious violations that have egregiously harmed thousands of civilians in Gaza over the years without distinction—men and women, boys and girls, the elderly and people with disabilities—must be met with an effective accountability deterrent.
Against this devastating context, Al Mezan and LPHR strongly welcome the 20 December 2019 announcement by ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, that she is ready to open a criminal investigation into the situation in Palestine. We view it as a seminal step towards achieving legal accountability and justice for the many victims, survivors and their families of alleged serious international crimes perpetrated by Israeli forces and their military and political leadership.
Our organisations did also note the important caveat that the Prosecutor’s significant decision to open an investigation has been made without yet making a crucial determination on the genuineness and scope of Israel’s investigative processes vis-a-vis the 2014 hostilities in Gaza.
On this sixth anniversary, and on behalf of the thousands of victims, survivors and their families, Al Mezan and LPHR wish to make a respectful, solemn and grave appeal to the ICC Prosecutor to make the objectively necessary determination that Israel has been demonstrably unwilling to provide genuine investigations, and accordingly the Office of the Prosecutor will undertake the responsibility, pursuant to the fundamental objectives of the Rome Statute, to investigate the 2014 attacks on Gaza.
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights (Al Mezan) is a Palestinian non-governmental human rights organization that works for the protection and promotion of Palestinian human rights and the rule of law in Gaza as part of occupied Palestine.
Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR) is a lawyer-based charity in the UK that works on projects to protect and promote Palestinian human rights. LPHR’s mission is to use our expertise to meaningfully contribute towards transforming the critical human rights situation impacting Palestinians.
For more on Al Mezan’s and LPHR’s work in this area, please see the following:
For six years, Al Mezan and LPHR have worked relentlessly on behalf of victims, survivors and their families to pursue accountability for clearly apparent serious violations of international criminal, humanitarian and human rights law; including engagement at the international level with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry into the 2014 Gaza Conflict.
Reflecting the empirical evidence, Al Mezan and LPHR have voiced grave concerns about the systemic impunity deeply embedded within Israel’s military investigation process, despite which Al Mezan engages with in good faith to seek legal redress, accountability and justice for victims, survivors and their families.
However, the appalling and clearly foreseeable pattern of impunity repeats itself year after year. No criminal charges, prosecutions, or convictions for clearly apparent serious violations against civilians in Gaza during the 2014 military bombardment. No genuine investigations, no legal accountability, no justice for victims, survivors and their families. Gross injustice and total systemic impunity prevailing. Six years on it is overwhelmingly clear to our organisations that Israel is unwilling to provide genuine investigations for these grave cases.
For six years, the authoritative words of the UN independent Commission of Inquiry into the 2014 Gaza Conflict have remained gravely extant: “The commission is concerned that impunity prevails across the board for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law allegedly committed by Israeli forces, whether it be in the context of active hostilities in Gaza or killings, torture, and ill-treatment in the West Bank.” [bolded for emphasis by Al Mezan and LPHR]
The empirical record is plainly and strikingly clear: Israel is unwilling to hold its political and military leadership to account. The output of the fundamentally flawed investigation system unquestionably activates the mandate of the ICC. It is accordingly and necessarily incumbent on the ICC Prosecutor to meet the hope and imperative of victims, survivors and their families, and bring an end to the devastating cycle of systemic impunity.
-The recurrent serious violations that have egregiously harmed thousands of civilians in Gaza over the years without distinction—men and women, boys and girls, the elderly and people with disabilities—must be met with an effective accountability deterrent.
Against this devastating context, Al Mezan and LPHR strongly welcome the 20 December 2019 announcement by ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, that she is ready to open a criminal investigation into the situation in Palestine. We view it as a seminal step towards achieving legal accountability and justice for the many victims, survivors and their families of alleged serious international crimes perpetrated by Israeli forces and their military and political leadership.
Our organisations did also note the important caveat that the Prosecutor’s significant decision to open an investigation has been made without yet making a crucial determination on the genuineness and scope of Israel’s investigative processes vis-a-vis the 2014 hostilities in Gaza.
On this sixth anniversary, and on behalf of the thousands of victims, survivors and their families, Al Mezan and LPHR wish to make a respectful, solemn and grave appeal to the ICC Prosecutor to make the objectively necessary determination that Israel has been demonstrably unwilling to provide genuine investigations, and accordingly the Office of the Prosecutor will undertake the responsibility, pursuant to the fundamental objectives of the Rome Statute, to investigate the 2014 attacks on Gaza.
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights (Al Mezan) is a Palestinian non-governmental human rights organization that works for the protection and promotion of Palestinian human rights and the rule of law in Gaza as part of occupied Palestine.
Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR) is a lawyer-based charity in the UK that works on projects to protect and promote Palestinian human rights. LPHR’s mission is to use our expertise to meaningfully contribute towards transforming the critical human rights situation impacting Palestinians.
For more on Al Mezan’s and LPHR’s work in this area, please see the following:
- LPHR and Al Mezan Complaint Submission [pdf] made to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict concerning large-scale destruction and damage to family houses in the Gaza Strip, with associated profound loss of life and injury to Palestinian residents, during Israel’s military operation between 7 July 2014 and 26 August 2014 (published September 2014)
- LPHR, Al Mezan and Medical Aid for Palestinians Complaint Submission [pdf] to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict concerning destruction and damage to medical infrastructure, and loss of life and injury to civilians and medical personnel, in Gaza, during Israel’s military operation between 7 July 2014 and 26 August 2014 (published February 2015)
- LPHR, Al Mezan and Medical Aid for Palestinians Joint Report: [pdf]
- No More Impunity: Gaza’s Health Sector Under Attack (published June 2015)
- Al Mezan report: [pdf] No Reparations in Israel for Palestinians: How Israel’s Amendment No. 8 Leaves no Room for Recourse (published December 2015)
- LPHR and Al Mezan joint update [pdf] – including survey of families on hope for justice – to its September 2014 report to the UN Commission of Inquiry on large-scale destruction and damage to family houses in the Gaza Strip, with associated profound loss of life and injury to Palestinian residents, during Israel’s military operation between 7 July 2014 and 26 August 2014 (published December 2016)
- Al Mezan and Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel Joint Report: [pdf] Gaza 3 Years On: Impunity over Accountability – Israel’s unwillingness to investigate violations of international law in the Gaza Strip (published August 2017)
- LPHR and Al Mezan Joint Report: [pdf] Justice Denied: Gaza human shield survivors and the systemic failure of Israel’s military investigation system to provide accountability (published September 2018)
- LPHR Report: [pdf] Eleven key points relevant to the complementarity assessment being undertaken by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on the grave issue of targeted airstrikes against family homes in Gaza (published April 2019)
- LPHR Statement: [pdf] A seminal step towards legal accountability and justice for victims, survivors and their families: ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s decision that she is ready to open an investigation into the situation in Palestine (published December 2019)
- LPHR, Al Mezan and Medical Aid for Palestinians Joint Report: [pdf] Chronic Impunity: Gaza’s Health Sector Under Repeated Attack (published March 2020)
