Ref: 28/2012
Date: 06 March 2012
Time: 09:30 GMT
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the escalation in the use of excessive force by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against peaceful demonstrations in the West Bank. Most recently, IOF used excessive force on Monday, 06 March 2012, against a peaceful protest. As a result, a Palestinian civilian who took part in this protest was seriously wounded. PCHR stresses that this is a crime, resulting of the use of excessive lethal force against peaceful demonstrations in the West Bank with the aim to prevent the organization of such demonstrations by Palestinian civilians. PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate action in order to put an end to such crimes.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 08:00 on Monday, 05 March 2012, dozens of students from Prince Hassan School and dozens of Palestinian guys gathered near ‘Attara checkpoint up north of Bir Zeit village, north of Ramallah. They were commemorating the second anniversary of the deaths of 6 Palestinians from the family of Bassam Abu ‘Awwad when an Israeli military jeep collided with a Palestinian taxi between the Palestinian village of Silwad and “Ofra” settlement, northeast of Ramallah. The demonstrators walked towards ‘Attara checkpoint, where Israeli soldiers were stationed behind concrete’s blocks. Israeli soldiers closed the checkpoint and clashes erupted between them and the demonstrators. These latter threw stones at the soldiers who responded by firing sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators. As a result, Mohammed Tayseer Yousef Abu Awwad, 19, was directly hit by a tear gas canister to the head and he lost consciousness. His cousin who was also participating in the demonstration carried him and walked 50 meters to the back. Abu Awwad was transported by a taxi to Bir Zeit village. There, he was taken into a Palestinian ambulance to Palestine Medical Compound in Ramallah where he immediately underwent a surgery. Dr. Ahmed al-Bitawi, Director of this Compound, stated that Abu Awwad sustained fractures to the skull and hemorrhage in the head as a result of the wounds he sustained by the tear gas canister. His condition was described as critical. Eyewitnesses told a fieldworker of PCHR that the tear gas canister was fired at Abu Awwad by a soldier who was only 20 meters from him and that Abu Awwad was not imposing any threat to IOF.
It should be noted that on 24 February 2012, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian, Tala’t Abdul Rahman Deiab Rameya, 24, in a peaceful demonstration near the northeastern entrance of al-Ram village, north of Jerusalem, after firing at him from a close range.
PCHR renews its condemnation of this new crime and views it with grave concern and:
