Ref: 121/2009

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights condemns the horrific murder of an 11-year-old child in the central Gaza Strip, and calls upon concerned bodies to investigate the crimes, publish the results of investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 08:15 on Sunday, 29 November 2009, the body of Ahmed Mousa Mohammed Farajallah, 11, from al-Nussairat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, was found in an animal farm belonging to one of his relatives.  The victim was found handcuffed with signs of beating and blood on his head.  According to the victim’s father, his child had been missing in the previous evening, so the father thought that his child was sleeping in a relative’s house.  However, as the child did not come back home in the morning as usual, the father got worried, so the family started to search for him.  Eventually, a relative found the child’s body in an animal farm, approximately 150 meters away from the house.  According to the father, when he arrived at the scene, the police were there and they allowed him to see the body when he introduced himself.  The victim was handcuffed with an iron wire, and his face was covered by blood.  The body was evacuated to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, and then to the forensic medicine department at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. 

PCHR reiterates its condemnation for their hideous crime and calls upon concerned bodies to make intensive efforts to find out its motives and circumstances, and bring the perpetrators to justice.