By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
SvennoJ on 18 July 2024
Edit Thread

‘Genocidal institution’: Think tank slams Israeli army for ‘cruel murder’ of Palestinian man with Down’s syndrome

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention strongly condemns the Israeli army for murdering a 24-year-old Palestinian man with Down’s syndrome and autism, calling it a “genocidal institution”.

According to a BBC report citing testimonies from family members, on July 3 Israeli soldiers allowed a combat dog to maul Muhammed Bhar in front of his family causing the young man to bleed from his arm and chest.

The institute based in the United States, said it was “horrified, heartbroken and nauseated by the cruel [Israeli army] murder of Muhammed Bhar”.

Nabila Bhar, the mother of the victim, said the family was ordered at gunpoint to leave the house, leaving her son behind with the soldiers. They returned a week later to find him dead, lying on the floor with a tourniquet on his arm and blood around him.

“The cruel and heartbreaking July 3 murder of Muhammed Bhar, 24, by [Israeli] soldiers in Gaza is a genocidal life force atrocity,” the US-based think tank said in a statement.

“The pattern of atrocity establishes the [Israeli army] as a genocidal institution,” it added.


Amnesty says 27 released Palestinians were subject to torture in detention

All the documented cases, including a 14-year-old boy, were also subject to other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by Israeli authorities while held in Israel, according to a report released by the UK-based rights group.

All former prisoners were detained for periods of up to four and a half months without access to their lawyers or any contact with their families, read the report.

Israeli soldiers operate under the Unlawful Combatants Law, which grants the army arbitrary powers to detain anyone they suspect of engagement in hostilities against Israel or posing a threat to state security. Under the law, Palestinians are detained indefinitely without charge or trial, it added.

“Our documentation illustrates how the Israeli authorities are using the Unlawful Combatants Law to arbitrarily round up Palestinian civilians from Gaza and toss them into a virtual black hole for prolonged periods without producing any evidence that they pose a security threat and without minimum due process,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general.

The 14-year-old was held for 24 days in the Sde Teiman military detention centre with at least 100 adult detainees in one barrack. Israeli interrogators subjected him to torture, including kicking and punching him in the neck and head, he told the rights group.

He said he had been repeatedly burned with cigarette butts – signs that were visible on his body, according to Amnesty.