PALESTINIAN BOY BEATEN BY SETTLER WAS SLATED TO DONATE BONE MARROW TO DYING SISTER

October 29, 1996

In a further tragic development, Hilmeh Shusha, the eleven-year old boy who was beaten to death by a Jewish settler, was scheduled to donate bone marrow to his two-year old sister , Suha, dying of Leukemia. Hilmeh was the only suitable donor found by the family and with his death, the family is without any means to save the younger daughter.

On Sunday, October 27, a Jewish settler beat Hilmeh to death with his rifle butt as Hilmeh was walking home from school. Contrary to news reports, witnesses to the incident reported that no rock-throwing had occurred. They stated that Hilmeh and two other children were walking along the bypass road which was empty of traffic. Without warning, a settler's jeep sped by and then stopped in front of the children. A settler, reportedly the chief of security at the Efrat settlement, got out of the jeep and beat Hilmeh on his head and body. Witnesses report that Hilmeh remained on the ground bleeding for a half and hour before the army took him to the hospital. Under the Oslo accords this road is under the security jurisdiction of the Israeli military forces.

Yesterday, the autopsy report from Abu Kabir -the Israeli coroner center - concluded that Hilmeh died from internal cranial bleeding. The report stated that Hilmeh sustained a blunt trauma to the side of his neck which in turn caused internal bleeding in his head.

Hilmeh's mother was with Suha at the hospital when Hilmeh was brought in brain-dead from the beating. Hilmeh was buried this morning in Husan village.

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.