March 1990, Page 40

Human Rights

By Sally Clark Nyhan

Amnesty International Charges Israel with Deliberate Killings

Amnesty International has accused Israeli authorities of condoning and encouraging executions of Palestinians as a method of controlling unrest in the occupied territories.

The international human rights organization's Jan. 2 report focused on hundreds of deaths from shootings by the Israeli Defense Force, Border Police and law enforcement agencies within the occupied territories. Amnesty International noted the ambiguity of guidelines on the use of firearms by Israeli forces and subsequent inadequate investigations of alleged abuses by Israeli authorities. Amnesty also suggested certain patterns in the killing of unarmed Palestinians.

"We are concerned that ... these factors appear to add up to more than just tolerance of serious abuses and amount to real encouragement of them," Amnesty International stated.

The organization said that "excessive and indiscriminate" methods were used to curtail unrest, including shooting at demonstrators, using tear gas and beating detainees.

Amnesty's figures cited more than 500 Palestinians shot dead, some 130 of whom were aged 16 or younger. The organization also reported 15 dead from beatings and 70 killed by indiscriminate use of tear gas.

Current Israeli guidelines on the use of firearms allow soldiers to use live ammunition to arrest suspects, with soldiers first required to shout an order to halt, then to fire in the air before firing at the legs of the suspect. Since September 1989, Israeli forces have been allowed to treat masked people as suspects and to use live ammunition to arrest them.

Amnesty International also reported that in an "alarmingly high number of instances," people shot did not appear to be involved in violent or life-threatening activities, and their report questions whether stone-throwing constitutes enough danger to justify the use of firearms.

A number of Palestinians were killed in arrest operations carried out by Israeli soldiers. Most of the victims killed in these operations appeared to have been shot while trying to escape. Further, Amnesty claims, emergency medical treatment was often denied to these and other Palestinians wounded in clashes with the Israeli army.

Amnesty's report specifically cites 12 Palestinians killed in 1989 in circumstances suggesting excessive use of force or deliberate killings by Israeli authorities. The cases include 6 children under the age of 18. Amnesty has complained to the Israeli government about all of these, and other, cases but none of the findings of official investigations have been made public.

Amnesty International is calling for an urgent review" of the guidelines on use of firearms and is asking that all investigations into killings be pursued "vigorously and speedily," with results made available to the public. Copies of the report can be obtained from Amnesty International, 322 8th Ave., New York NY 10001; (212) 807-8400.

Two Views on Iraqi Crackdown

A January 30 Amnesty International report accused the Iraqi army of killing and wounding 10,000 people in a crackdown in southern Iraq.

Amnesty said the attacks on more than 30 villages and towns appeared to be an attempt to capture army deserters. Amnesty has received reports of attacks in the predominantly Shi'i Muslim region between Jan. 10 and 23.

An Iraqi spokesman denied the Amnesty accusation and called the report a "false and fabricated story."

UN Report on Iranian Human Rights

A November 1989 United Nations report on human rights in Iran reiterated earlier reports that Iran's Islamic revolutionary government is committing abuses "incompatible with international human rights instruments that are binding on the Iranian government."

A UN special representative held hearings with 22 witnesses who had all been jailed for terms from 1-8 years. The witnesses described an official Iranian policy of both physical and psychological torture, including beatings and whippings, mock executions, rape, and denial of medical treatment.

Five witnesses whose appearance was facilitated by the Iranian government also met with the UN special representative. The five attributed "terrorist actions" to the major opposition group, the People's Mojahedin. One of the five testified that conditions inside Iranian prisons were "humanitarian," with prisoners often treated better than the population as a whole.

The UN report included testimony by witnesses concerning the widespread use of torture in Iranian prisons. Former prisoners cited a recent change in policy from physical to psychological torture, which leaves few or no marks on the victims' bodies. The new methods included lashings, suspensions from the ceiling, mock hangings, overcrowding of prisoners in small rooms with insufficient oxygen and withholding of medical treatment. Several of the witnesses gave eyewitness accounts of the torture and killing of cellmates. In addition, there were reports of mass executions of political prisoners, who the Iranian government claimed were drug traffickers.

The Iranian government, despite promises to cooperate fully with the UN representative, dismissed the testimony as that of terrorists.

"Human rights ... remain integral in extreme emergencies, even in those that endanger the existence of the nation itself," the UN representative countered, adding, "Nor can the condemnable practices of terrorism be legitimately countered with violations of human rights."

The report ended by calling on the Iranian government to provide full cooperation in preparation of future reports, and said there was no reason to modify earlier UN reports charging Iran with repeated human rights abuses.

Sally Clark Nyhan is the Book Club Editor of the American Educational Trust.