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ALERT - PALESTINE
13 June 2007
Gaza journalists endangered by armed groups' use of vehicle marked "TV",
warns Human Rights Watch
SOURCE: Human Rights Watch
(HRW/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a Human Rights Watch
press release:
Gaza: Armed Palestinian Groups Commit Grave Crimes
Fighters Execute Captives, Attack Hospital, Put Journalists at Serious Risk
(New York, 13 June 2007) - During recent fighting in the Gaza Strip, armed
Palestinian groups have committed serious violations of international
humanitarian law, in some cases amounting to war crimes, Human Rights Watch
said today.
In internal Palestinian fighting over the last three days, both Fatah and
Hamas military forces have summarily executed captives, killed people not
involved in hostilities, and engaged in gun battles with one another inside
and near Palestinian hospitals. On Saturday, armed Palestinians from
Islamic Jihad and the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade used a
vehicle with a "TV" insignia to attack an Israeli military position on the
border with Gaza.
In the June 9 incident, four armed Palestinians drove a white jeep bearing
"TV" insignias to a fence on the Gaza-Israel border and fired at Israeli
soldiers. The Israelis returned fire, killing one Palestinian. Spokesmen
for Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an offshoot of Fatah,
claimed responsibility for the attack. An Islamic Jihad spokesperson denied
that Palestinians had put press markings on the jeep used in the June 9
attack, and accused the Israeli military of doing so after the fact.
However, photos taken by the Associated Press as the attack was under way
show the letters "TV" written in red on the front of the jeep.
"Using a vehicle with press markings to carry out a military attack is a
serious violation of the laws of war, and it also puts journalists at
risk," said Whitson.
Customary international humanitarian law provides that journalists not
taking direct part in hostilities in armed conflict zones "shall be
considered as civilians." The deliberate abuse of this protected status in
order to breach the confidence of an adversary in an attempt to kill,
injure or capture them, would amount to an act of perfidy, a serious
violation of international humanitarian law.
The Palestinian Journalists Union on Sunday criticized the use by armed
factions of press insignia in a statement: "The use of vehicles that carry
"Press," "TV" or other signs . . . exposes journalists' lives to danger,
gives the Israeli occupation a pretext to target and kill journalists and
restricts their ability to perform their professional and national duties .
. . We demand all parties stop using these methods."
For further information, contact Sarah Leah Whitson (English), New York,
tel: +1 212 216 1230; Gasser Abdel-Razek (Arabic, English), Cairo, tel: +20
22 794 5036 or +20 10 502 9999 (mobile); or Human Rights Watch, 350 Fifth
Ave., 34th Floor, New York NY 10018-3299, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 290 4700,
fax: +1 212 736 1300, e-mail: hrwnyc@hrw.org, Internet: http://www.hrw.org/
The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of Human
Rights Watch. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please
credit Human Rights Watch.
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