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<font size=3><b>Extrajudicial Assassinations As Official Israeli
Policy<br><br>
<a href="http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/19710" eudora="autourl">
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/19710</a><br><br>
</b>November, 20 2008 <br><br>
By <b>Stephen Lendman</b> <br>
<br>
Extra-judicial killings are indefensible, morally abhorrent, and illegal
under international laws and norms. Article 23b of the 1907 Hague
Regulations prohibits "assassination, proscription, or outlawry of
an enemy, or putting a price upon an enemy's head, as well as offering a
reward for any enemy 'dead or alive.' " <br>
<br>
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that
"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of
person." UDHR also recognizes the "inherent dignity (and the)
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family."<br>
<br>
So do "just war" principles that rule out gratuitous violence,
assassinations, especially if premeditated, war against civilians, and so
on, despite the difficulties of distinguishing between combatants,
those who've laid down their arms, and the innocent in times of war - let
alone dealing with "terrorism" or what one analyst calls the
"twilight zone between war and peace." Others say it's
justifiable resistance or "blowback" in response to
state-sponsored violence and other crimes of war and against
humanity.<br>
<br>
In 1980, the Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and
the Treatment of Offenders condemned "the practice of killing and
executing political opponents or suspected offenders carried out by armed
forces, law enforcement or other governmental agencies or by paramilitary
or political groups" acting with the support of official forces or
agencies.<br>
<br>
The General Assembly also acted in response to arbitrary executions and
politically motivated killings. On December 15, 1980, it adopted
resolution 35/172 in which it urged member states to abide by the
provisions of Articles 6, 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political rights that cover the right to life and various
safeguards guaranteeing fair and impartial judicial proceedings.<br>
<br>
The first principle of the 1989 UN Principles on the Effective Prevention
and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions
states: <br>
<br>
"Governments shall prohibit by law all extra-legal, arbitrary and
summary executions and shall ensure that any such executions are
recognized as offences under their criminal laws, and are punishable by
appropriate penalties which take into account the seriousness of such
offenses. Exceptional circumstances, including a state of war or threat
of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency may
not be invoked as a justification of such executions. (They) shall not be
carried out under any circumstances including, but not limited to,
situations of internal armed conflict, excessive or illegal use of force
by a public official or other person acting in an official capacity or by
a person acting at the instigation, or with the consent or acquiescence
of such person, and situations in which deaths occur in custody. This
prohibition shall prevail over decrees issued by governmental
authority."<br>
<br>
These articles and provisions apply to occupied civilian populations, and
the Fourth Geneva Convention and its Article 3 affords ones (like the
Palestinians) under foreign occupation special protection. It covers all
actions related to "Violence to life and person, Murder of all
kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture." In addition,
"The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without
previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording
all the judicial guarantees....recognized as indispensable by civilized
peoples."<br>
<br>
Its Article 32 states: "the High Contracting Parties specifically
agree that each of them is prohibited from taking any measure of such a
character as to cause the physical suffering or extermination of
protected persons in their hands. This prohibition applies not only to
murder, torture, corporal punishment, mutilation and medical or
scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment of a
protected person, but also to any other measures of brutality whether
applied by civilian or military agents."<br>
<br>
Its Article 85 refers to "Grave Breaches" and defines them as
"Acts committed willfully and causing death or serious injury to
body or health....making the civilian population or individual civilians
the object of attack (or)launching an indiscriminate attack affecting the
civilian population or civilian objects...."<br>
<br>
The 2002 International Criminal Court's Rome Statute also defines these
grave violations as war crimes that include (in its Article 8):<br>
<br>
-- "Grave" Geneva Convention breaches;<br>
<br>
-- "Willing killing...."<br>
<br>
-- "Intentionally launching an attack" knowing it will
"cause incidental loss of life...."<br>
<br>
-- "Killing or wounding" combatants who've laid down their
arms;<br>
<br>
-- extrajudicial killings; and<br>
<br>
-- "Killing or wounding treacherously a combatant
adversary...."<br>
<br>
In 1982, the UN established the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions. It was one of several mandates to
address disappearances, torture, assassinations and many other human
rights abuses and violations of international law. <br>
<br>
Philip Alston currently holds the post to investigate extrajudicial
killings, hold governments responsible for committing them, failing to
prevent them, or for not responding when they're carried out by others.
In May 2008, he issued the latest report of his "principle
activities" in 2007 through the first three months of 2008. As of
March 2008, he requested permission from 32 countries and Occupied
Palestine to visit. In spite of "proceed(ing) with plans for a
visit," Israel "so far failed to respond affirmatively."
The Palestinian Authority (PA) "issued an invitation."<br>
<br>
The US Position On Extrajudicial Killings<br>
<br>
In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed Executive Order (EO) 11905 banning
the practice against foreign leaders in peacetime and by implication
against others. Yet Reagan's Defense Secretary, Caspar Weinberger, argued
that only "murder by treacherous means" is forbidden so
assassinations are acceptable as long as they're unrelated to
"treachery." <br>
<br>
George Bush then swept aside subtleties, reversed Ford's EO, and
authorized the CIA to assassinate Osama bin Laden, his supporters, and
publicly stated that bin Laden "was wanted, dead or alive." His
Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, concurred and called killing
"terrorists" an act of "self-defense."<br>
<br>
In June 2008, Philip Alston visited the US. He met with federal and state
officials, judges and civil society groups in New York, Washington,
Alabama and Texas. He also conducted a fact-finding tour of US prison and
detention facilities and presented his findings at a June 30 press
conference. He sharply criticized the Bush administration, the country's
flawed judicial system, and continued rule of law violations. He
cited:<br>
<br>
-- racism in the application of the death penalty;<br>
<br>
-- the lack of transparency in Guantanamo prisoner deaths;<br>
<br>
-- a lack of information about Iraq and Afghanistan civilian deaths; the
unwillingness of Department of Defense officials and others to cooperate;
his concern about serious human rights violations as well; and<br>
<br>
-- the refusal of the US Justice Department to prosecute mercenary
contractors (like Blackwater Worldwide) who commit unlawful killings. Or
the US military. <br>
<br>
Israeli Extrajudicial Killings<br>
<br>
Throughout its history, Israel willfully and systematically committed
premeditated extrajudicial killings of Palestinians and other Arabs as
official state policy - carried out with explicit high-level political,
judicial and military authorization and allegedly in
"self-defense" against individuals threatening Israeli
security. Government officials even admit that certain persons are
targeted, and Dan Haluts, former Israeli Army Chief of Staff, once told
the Washington Post (in August 2006) that "Targeted killing is the
most important method in the fight against 'terrorism.' " In other
words, premeditated murder is acceptable as long as it's properly
classified.<br>
<br>
In May 2007 on Israeli Army Radio, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, former
Infrastructure Minister, defended the practice and said: "We decided
to carry out more physical liquidation operations against (Palestinian)
'terrorists"....I think this will eliminate the damage caused to
Israeli territory due to the launching of Palestinian rockets."<br>
<br>
Almost never do Israeli government or military officials show evidence
that targeted individuals acted violently or threatened Jewish citizens.
Simply calling them "terrorists" is justification enough - to
kill them extrajudicially, with no recourse to due process or respect for
international law that bans the practice for any reason.<br>
<br>
"My crime was to protest Israeli assassinations"<br>
<br>
On January 5, 2007, the London Guardian headlined that comment in
reporting on Jewish activist Tali Fahima's first interview following her
release from Israeli incarceration. Sitting with her arms handcuffed to a
chair's legs 16 hours a day, her captors said they wanted to teach her to
be a "good Jew." She was imprisoned for 30 months for traveling
to the West Bank, "meeting an enemy agent and translating a simple
army document."<br>
<br>
She explained and said her crimes were for refusing to work with Shin Bet
(Israel's secret service), going to see the Palestinians, then protesting
the Israeli assassinations policy. She was kept in isolation for nine
months. Finally, at the urging of her lawyer, she struck a plea bargain
for a shorter sentence, and ended up being "unbowed" by her
experience. She learned how Sin Bet "terroriz(es)" people, both
Palestinians and Jews. "About the nature of the government, how they
do not want us to see what is going on in our name."<br>
<br>
On August 8, 2004, she was arrested and placed under administrative
detention in September. In December, she was charged with
"assistance to the enemy at time of war." It was trumped up and
false. In January 2005, the Tel Aviv district court ruled that she should
be placed under house arrest during her trial. Jerusalem's high court
overruled it on the grounds that she "identifie(d) with an
ideological goal." In December 2005, she pled guilty under her plea
bargain to meeting and aiding an enemy agent and entering Palestinian
territory. In January 2006, she was released.<br>
<br>
She felt compelled to make regular Jenin visits. Talk to hundreds of
people, including Palestinian resisters, and for the first time heard
their point of view and how hard things are under occupation. For showing
compassion and disagreeing with Israeli policies, she was imprisoned for
nearly 30 months on false charges. Not even Jews are safe from harsh
state retribution against anyone showing defiance or daring to resist
injustice.<br>
<br>
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Documentation of Israeli Targeted
Assassinations<br>
<br>
The (1995 established) Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
functions independently in Gaza and enjoys "Consultative
Status" with the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It's
also an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists-Geneva, the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in Paris, the
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network in Copenhagen, the Arab
Organization for Human Rights in Cairo, and the International Legal
Assistance Corsortium (ILAC) in Stockholm.<br>
<br>
Palestinian lawyers and human rights activists established it to:<br>
<br>
-- "protect human rights and promote the rule of law;"<br>
<br>
-- create, develop and promote a democratic culture in Palestinian
society; and<br>
<br>
-- work for Palestinian self-determination and independence "in
accordance with international law and UN resolutions."<br>
<br>
PCHR issues documents, fact sheets, and reports like its quarterly
accounts of Israeli extrajudicial executions in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories (OPT). Its latest one is from April through June, and a more
comprehensive one covered August 2006 through its latest June 2008
data.<br>
<br>
PCHR states: It's "investigated and documented these (killings) in
depth (and) concluded that the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) have
consistently acted with utter disregard for the lives of (mostly
innocent) Palestinian civilians in the OPT, and that IOF have continued
to carry out state sanctioned extra-judicial executions, (in violation
of) international human rights law....in the overwhelming majority of
cases....suspects could have been arrested, but no efforts were
made....and they were instead extra-judicially executed" - according
to official state policy.<br>
<br>
The Human Toll<br>
<br>
Since the second Intifada's September 2000 inception through June 30,
2008, and excluding all other Palestinian killings, the IOF carried out
755 OPT executions. Victims included 521 extrajudicially targeted and 233
bystanders, including 71 children and 20 women. In Gaza, 405 were killed.
Another 350 in the West Bank. The methods used included:<br>
<br>
-- F-16, unmanned drone, and attack helicopter-launched air-to-surface
missiles; tank shelling; missile launchers and gunboats; <br>
<br>
-- Israeli military undercover units disguised as Palestinians; first
established during the first (1987 - 1993) Intifada; they became more
active during the second one; could easily have arrested suspects but
instead killed them at short range; and<br>
<br>
-- IOF targeted house ambushes in the West Bank.<br>
<br>
Most often, civilians are attacked in their homes, vehicles, on streets
and at workplaces. Sometimes entire families are killed, including
children, women, the elderly, and infirm, and a July 2002 incident was
typical. It targeted Salah Shehada, an Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades (the
Hamas armed wing) leader. <br>
<br>
The IOF knew he was with his wife and children. That they lived in a
densely populated residential area, and former Israeli Army Chief of
Staff, Moshe Ya'alon, admitted that he knew Shehada's wife and daughter
"were close to him during the implementation of the
assassination....and there was no way out of conducting the operation
despite their presence." An Israeli F-16 bombed his home, and
completely destroyed it. Two neighboring ones also and damaged 32 others.
<br>
<br>
The toll was horrific - 77 injured civilians; 16 others killed, including
Shehada, his wife, daughter, assistant, eight children, (one a two-month
old baby), and two elderly men and two women. It was an indefensible
criminal act of wanton murder.<br>
<br>
In May 2007, an air-to-surface missile targeted the Al-Hayia family at
his eastern Gaza meeting hall. It scored a direct hit. Killed were seven
members of his family, another Palestinian and the object of the attack -
Sameh Saleh Farawana, a Hamas activist. In addition, three others were
wounded.<br>
<br>
In July 2006, air-to-surface missiles destroyed Dr. Nabil Abdol Latif Abu
Selmeya's home in Gaza City's Al-Sheikh Radwan district. He, his wife,
and seven children were killed. In addition, 34 bystanders were injured,
including 5 children and six women. At least 15 neighboring homes were
also damaged in an operation Israelis said targeted Mohammed Al-Deif,
Hamas' armed wing leader and apparently Israel's most wanted man.<br>
<br>
In January 2008, an air-to-surface missile struck a civilian vehicle
carrying three members of the Al-Yazji family killing Mohammed Al-Yazji,
his five-year old son, and his 40-year old brother. Three bystanders were
also injured. IOF sources later admitted the attack was in error and was
meant for another vehicle carrying Palestinian resistance activists.<br>
<br>
In August 2007, a Gaza operation near the Rafah International Crossing
Point killed two civilians, injured 12 others and slightly wounded three
targeted activists who escaped. Moments later, another vehicle was struck
nearby killing the driver, a civilian bystander, and wounding 12 others,
including a child.<br>
<br>
In November 2006 in eastern Gaza, a vehicle was struck carrying Bassel
Sha'aban Ubeid, an Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades member. He and a colleague
were killed. In addition, five Amen family members were injured,
including two children.<br>
<br>
Throughout the reporting period, there were many more killings in Gaza
and the West Bank. In November 2006, four Jenin civilians. In February
2007, three others in Jenin. In March 2008, four Bethlehem civilians.
Many others throughout the Territories in Ramallah, Nablus, Rafah, Khan
Younis, Tul Karim, north, central and southern Gaza, and elsewhere -
against activists, resisters, civilians, women and children for the crime
of being Palestinians wanting self-determination, freedom, and respect
for their rights under international law. For their part, Israelis, with
world support and complicity, continue denying it to them repressively
and illegally.<br>
<br>
Extrajudicial Executions in the Latest Reporting Period - April - June
2008<br>
<br>
During the period, the IOF conducted eight OPT assassinations killing a
total of 16 people, including two civilian bystanders. Two operations
were carried out in the West Bank. Six others in Gaza.<br>
<br>
On April 14, an air-to-surface missile killed Ibrahim Mohanned Abu 'Olba,
the National Resistance Brigades' (the Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine's armed wing) leader in northern Gaza. Two
civilians were also injured, including a 15-year old boy. In addition, a
number of nearby houses were damaged.<br>
<br>
On April 15, an air-to-surface missile killed Abdullah Mohammed
al-Ghassain, an al-Quds Brigades' (the Islamic Jihad's armed wing)
activist in northern Gaza. Three others were also injured.<br>
<br>
On April 17, the IOF besieged a building in Qabatya village, southeast of
Jenin in the northern West Bank. They opened fire at a civilian car,
ordered people out of the building, and fired shells and demolished it
with a bulldozer. Two dead Palestinians were found inside.<br>
<br>
On April 20, an air-to-surface missile killed Nour al-Dibari in Gaza. A
second missile targeted a number of Palestinians who just left a grocery
shop. Its owner was seriously injured as well as his son. At least one
other Palestinian was hurt as well.<br>
<br>
On June 29, the IOF entered Tubas in the northern West Bank and set a
cemetery ambush for a group of Palestinian children there throwing stones
and Molotov cocktails at military vehicles. They opened fire and killed
one 16-year old from multiple gunshots to the chest and abdomen.<br>
<br>
PCHR "asserts that the Government of Israel continues to act
recklessly, and with utter disregard for the human rights of the
Palestinian people, including (their) right to life" and safety.
Israel also fails "to meet its obligations under human rights law,
including the Fourth Geneva Convention." An Israeli government
representative wasn't available for comment. <br>
<br>
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
<a href="mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net">
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net</a>. Also visit his blog site at
sjlendman.blogspot.com.<br>
<br><br>
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