Ref:
130/2011

The
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon all competent authorities
to open immediate investigation into the deaths of two children in a sewage
basin in Khan Yunis refugee camp.  PCHR
calls also for identifying the party responsible for providing protective
measures around the said basin which threatens the safety and security of
Palestinians, especially children.

According
to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 14:30 on 06 December
2011, some locals found the bodies of Wisam Ahmed Nazmi Sahloul, 5, and his
sister Malak, 3, in a sewage basin in the west of the southern Gaza Strip town
of Khan Yunis.  The two children had
disappeared at approximately 08:00 and their bodies were found 8 hours later.

Ibrahim
Salim Ali Sahloul, 37, one of the two children’s relatives, stated to a PCHR
fieldworker that as he heard about the deaths of the two children in the sewage
basin, which is between 100 and 150 meters from their house, he headed to the
basin and found many neighbors and 4 members of the civil defense who were
looking for the children.  Shortly after,
the body of Wisam was recovered, as was the body of Malak a little later. The
bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital and doctors confirmed their death.

Locals
told the PCHR fieldworker that several children drowned in the basin which was
established during the presence of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip.  The Israeli military used the basin in 1992 to
dispose sewage water. After the implementation of the Israeli unilateral
disengagement plan in 2005, locals used the basin to dispose sewage water, as
there is no public network available to dispose sewage water in the area.  In view of repeated deaths in the basin,
dissemination of many diseases among locals, the spreading of insects and a bad
smell from the basin, the locals called for solutions for these problems which endanger
their lives and especially their children’s lives.  Adel Ali Karim Abu Ubeida, 33, who lives in
the same area, stated that following repeated deaths in the basin, Khan Yunis
Municipality encircled the basin, which measures between 1,500 and 2,000 square
meters, with barbwire.  Abu Ubeida noted
that children can go through the barbwire and reach the basin.  Khan Yunis Municipality has made promises to
find a solution for the problem, noting that there will be a future project to
address this problem.  The Municipality
held UNRWA responsible because UNRWA is responsible for Khan Yunis refugee camp
and for providing services to the refugee population.  Abu Ubeida explained that several months ago,
officers from Khan Yunis Municipality arrived at the site of the basin and
measured the area.  The officers told the
locals that they needed the measurements for a project that would begin after
10 days to establish a sewage treatment plant.  Abu Ubeida noted that 8 months have passed,
but the project has not started.

In light
of the above, PCHR calls upon various concerned parties to open immediate
investigations into the above incident, and to identify the party responsible
for providing protective measures around the said basin which threatens the
safety and security of Palestinians, especially children.