Rights groups accuse Israeli police of live firing
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 1/8/2001

Israeli and Arab human rights groups accused Israeli police on Sunday of firing live bullets at Arab protesters during clashes in October even though their lives were not in danger.

The groups said they had submitted a report to a state inquiry set up in November to investigate the police killing of 13 Israeli Arabs after the start of the Arab uprising that began in September. "Police shot live ammunition in the direction of the demonstrators even when the police themselves were not in a life-threatening situation, and they failed to protect the lives of citizens," the statement said.

Police claims they had come under gunfire several times during rock-throwing Arab protests. Violence swept Israeli Arab towns and villages after clashes erupted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on September 28 following a visit to a Jerusalem holy site by right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon. A spokesperson for the commission, which can subpoena witnesses and recommend criminal prosecution, said it would read the report and then decide what to do with it.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Legal Center for the Rights of the Arab Minority and the Arab Human Rights Association report was based on interviews with more than 60 people and involved over 10 incidents in seven towns and villages.

It also accused the police "applied a double standard" in their response to disturbances by Jews in similar circumstances, adding that no live ammunition or rubber bullets had ever been fired against Jewish protestors. The report charged the police with preventing ambulances from evacuating the wounded and said they rejected any attempts by local Arab leaders to mediate.

Previous Stories:
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