MORE ACCIDENTAL SHOOTINGS BY PALESTINIAN POLICE

FATALITIES ON THE RISE DUE TO POLICE NEGLIGENCE

24 August 1996

On 22 August, Zuhdi Araiysheh was shot in the head and critically wounded by Palestinian police at a Palestinian checkpoint in Nablus. After one police officer had motioned them to continue, and another signaled them to stop, Zuhdi and the driver Salame Marshoud continued through the checkpoint. They were then fired fired upon by the police. Zuhdi, who is 42 years old, married and has seven children, remains in critical condition in Mekassed hospital. The police officer responsible for the shooting has been arrested.

On 21 August, an eleven year old girl, Nabila al Hindi, was killed by a stray bullet fired after a gun-fight broke out between rival Palestinian security forces in Gaza City.

On 30 July, a 20 year-old Bethlehem hospital employee was accidentally fatally shot by a police officer in Bethlehem.

On 1 April, Palestinian security forces opened fire on a jeep in Ramallah, killing one passenger and wounding another.

LAWE - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment condemns the negligence of the Palestinian police and other security forces. It is clear that poor training, little oversight and lax regulations have contributed to a situation in which these kinds of needless and tragic accidents can happen. LAWE calls for better training and stricter regulations concerning police conduct, and for the police officers involved to be held responsible for their actions.

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.