PALESTINIAN POLICE OPEN FIRE ON PROTESTERS IN TULKAREM

ONE DEAD, SEVEN INJURED AND IN HOSPITAL

2 August, 1996

LAWE - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment

PO Box 20873

Jerusalem

Tel: (972) (2) 812364/824559

Fax: (972) (2) 811072

email: lawe@netvision.net.il

Tulkarem, West Bank -- Palestinian police killed 38 year-old Ibrahim Hediadeh and injured several others today in Tulkarem, during a demonstration called in support of five hunger strikers detained without charge in the jail in Tulkarem. Ibrahim Hediadeh is married with two children.

The hunger strikers, like the detainees in al Juneid prison in Nablus, called the hunger strike to protest their continued detention without charge in Palestinian prisons. The five hunger strikers have been refusing food since 29 July, and were taken to hospital this morning in seriously weakened condition.

The families of the detainees and about 300 protesters gathered outside the police headquarters to protest their continuing detention. The angry demonstrators began to throw stones at the police headquarters, and that time the police opened fire in an attempt to scatter the crowd. After Ibrahim Hediadeh was killed and seven others wounded, the protesters attempted to enter the headquarters. The police opened fire again, and forcibly dispersed the demonstration. The police have clamped a curfew on the town, and demanded that everyone leave the streets. The Coastal Police have been called as backup forces from Nablus, to help enforce the curfew.

The wife and family of the slain man held his funeral this evening.

LAWE - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment expresses its deep concern about the escalation of police-related violence against Palestinian citizens, and condemns totally the police practice of opening fire on demonstrators and the shooting death of the protester. The widespread practice of arbitrary detention without charge, and the recent death of detainee Mahmoud Jumyal from torture at the hands of the Coastal Police, has created a ground-swell of resentment against the brutal and uncontrolled practices of the Palestinian armed forces. The mounting number of deaths has added an extra urgency to the demands for police restraint and accountability.

LAWE - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAWE is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.