TWO INJURED, ONE KILLED IN POLICE SHOOTING AT FOOTBALL MATCH

24 September, 1996

At 5:30 pm on 23 September, during a football match between teams from Tulkarem and Jerusalem in Nablus, Palestinian police opened fire on angry spectators. The police first moved onto the field after the Tulkarem team attacked the referee after a contentious call. The spectators, contained behind a high fence, shouted at the referee and threw cans onto the field. The police, apparently panicking but not acknowledging that the fans were behind a fence and were not an immediate threat, opened fire on the spectators from a distance of 15-20 meters, wounding two and killing one.

The two who were injured were:

Hanni Mohammed Hassan Suwan, 37 years old, from Nablus. He was wounded in chest;

Hanni Issa, 22 years old, wounded in his shoulder;

Salim Mustafa Abu Shareb, 34 years old from Tulkarem, was killed by a bullet to the head.

LAWE - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human rights and the Environment points out that police intervention to separate the Tulkarem team players and the referee was justified. Firing live ammunition into a crowd of people contained behind a fence , however, constitutes a very serious offense and an unacceptable abuse of police power.

LAWE calls for an inquiry into this affair, and condemns the poor training and the lack of discipline on the part of the police. LAWE calls for better training, review and oversight in order to create a police force which will protect the rights of its citizens, not violate those rights.

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.