Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - LAW

Israeli forces yesterday evening (Monday, October 14) killed another two Palestinian political activists in the second extra-judicial assassination in less than 24 hours.

According to information gathered by LAW, three Palestinians, Wisam Sibaaneh (23), Mohammad Mousa (27) and Mohammad Nazal (24), from south Jenin, were in a private care around 5pm yesterday evening, driving on dirt paths Palestinians use during closure and curfew in the Manshiyya area.

Eight armed, masked men from Israeli special forces, accompanied by three helicopters and four APCs (armored personnel carriers) opened fire on the
car, instantly killing Wisam Sibaaneh and Mohammad Mousa and seriously injuring Mohammad Nazal.

Israeli forces took away the bodies of Sibaaneh and Mousa. Around 7:30am this morning, the two bodies were returned to the Jenin local hospital, whereupon Israeli forces arrested Mohammad Nazal (24), seriously injured, and taken to an unknown destination.

In a chain of extra-judicial killings brazenly practiced before the eyes of the international community, on Sunday (October 13) Israeli troops
extra-judicially assassinated Mohammad Abayat (27) in Beit Jala, booby- trapping a public phone close to the Beit Jala hospital.

According to LAW's findings, at least 170 Palestinians have so far been killed in extra-judicial executions committed by Israel, including 63 Palestinian bystanders. LAW emphasizes that extra-judicial executions constitute willful killings, which are a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and as such constitute war crimes subject to universal
jurisdiction.

Moreover the site of the extra-judicial execution warrants grave concern. Armed masked men opening fire on cars, booby-trapping a public phone near a hospital, dropping a one-ton bomb on a crowded residential area, firing missiles at cars, among others, shows a wanton disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians.

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.

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, wherever the perpetrators are. 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.
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LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organization dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is affiliate to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT).

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, law@lawsociety.org, www.lawsociety.org