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Press Release
PCHR calls upon the PNA to investigate clashes in Gaza
Ref: 57/2001
Date: 8 October 2001
PCHR strongly condemns the use of excessive lethal force by Palestinian police to disperse demonstrators gathered today in Gaza city. PCHR calls upon the Palestinian National Authority to investigate the use of live fire by police on demonstrators, killing two and injuring many others.
According to PCHR’s investigation, on Monday, at approximately 10:30 local time, hundreds of students from the Islamic University in Gaza City organized a peaceful march in protest against the US attacks on Afghanistan. The march was supposed to move towards the Palestinian Legislative Council. However, Palestinian police confronted the demonstrators and prevented their access. In response the demonstrators threw stones at police and the police responded by beating demonstrators and firing tear gas at the crowds. A number of policemen were seen firing into the air. Two demonstrators, Yousef Mohammed ‘Abdel-Hadi, 19, from Nusseirat refugee camp, and ‘Abdullah El-Efranji, 14, a school child from Al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza city, were killed by live bullets to the chest and the head respectively. A number of demonstrators were also injured by live bullets, including Haitham Tawfiq Abu Shammala, 19, from Al-Shati refugee camp, who was critically injured by a live bullet in the head and was evacuated to the intensive care unit at Shifa’ Hospital in Gaza. In addition, more than 30 police officers were injured by stones, and dozens of civilians, including a number of children, suffered from tear gas inhalation. A number of demonstrators also attacked the offices of the Palestinian Aviation Authority.
The command of the Palestinian police has issued three statements alleging that a number of students of the Islamic University organized an illegal, unlicensed march towards the Palestinian Legislative Council. According to these statements, the police confronted the march and attempted to move the students back towards the campus. The police claim that some students threw stones at officers, causing numerous injuries. The statements assert that the police were able to move the students back towards the university, but claim that the students continued to threw stones at officers. In the latest statement, the police command claims that “some masked persons opened fire from inside the campus at police officers who were near the campus, injuring one in the head.” No sources have been able to confirm this claim. PCHR’s field officers who have been closely following the clashes reported that no shooting had taken place from inside the campus.
PCHR condemns in the strongest terms this rapid resort to excessive force and calls for an immediate investigation into today’s incidents, in particular the use of live fire against demonstrators, resulting in two deaths and many injuries. PCHR is concerned that such methods are not consistent with national and international standards of law enforcement. It also calls upon Palestinian national and Islamic factions and parties to immediately intervene to contain this crisis and end the violence. Such incidents pose a serious threat to the internal situation and undermine the joint efforts required across Palestinian society to put an end to the occupation and to achieve the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
