Fares Hassan al-Sa'adi

On the evening of 21 June 2002, the IDF blew up an unoccupied house in the
old city area of Jenin. The explosion also demolished an adjacent house,
which contained eight family members, all of whom were trapped in the rubble.
Two were seriously injured and one 12-year-old child, Fares, died. According
to the family and neighbours no warning was given to the family before the
explosion, despite protests from a neighbour who had been used during this
military operation to check the adjacent house.

Amnesty International interviewed neighbours, as well as family members.
Their accounts of the incident are consistent. The IDF has claimed the
targeted property was used to store munitions. Regardless of whether this was
the case, the responsibility remains for those members of the IDF involved in
the operations to secure the safety of the civilian population in the
immediate area.
A neighbour of the al-Sa'adi family described how an IDF unit compelled him
to check the rooms of an empty house for explosives:

"[...]The soldiers told me that they were going to demolish the house. I saw
the bomb. I explained to the soldiers that there were actually two houses,
not just this one, and that only a common wall separated them. I told them
that if they exploded this house the other one would also fall. I said that
there were children next door. I asked the soldiers to give me permission to
knock on the door and warn them, but they said 'No'."

Hassan Fares al-Sa'adi, Fares's father, told Amnesty International:

"All of a sudden, there was an explosion and the roof fell down. I was then
under the rubble. When I got out, I was calling to my children. I first heard
Mahmud (11), who was injured on his left ankle. I then heard my daughter Asil
(8),whose leg was broken and had a head injury. My wife had injuries all over
the left side of her body and she was cut and bleeding. Up until now she
cannot hear well in her left ear. I then found my daughter Hadil who was
unconscious. After that I found my niece Muna; she had a back and leg injury.
We then found Fares. At that moment, I didn't know if he was alive or dead."
Fares al-Sa'adi died in the ambulance on the way to hospital.

International standards, including the UN Principles on the Effective
Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions
require prompt, thorough, and impartial inquiries into these killings. The
primary responsibility for these investigations lies with the State. Amnesty
International urges the government to initiate without further delay a
thorough and transparent investigation into the above cases and to make these
findings public. The international community has a responsibility to ensure
that these investigations take place and are carried out according to the UN
Principles and that those responsible for unlawful killings are brought to
justice.

Compelling Palestinians to participate in military operations and to act as
"human shields"

The IDF systematically compelled Palestinians to take part in military
operations. Several Palestinians interviewed by Amnesty International in
relation to other subjects said that they had been compelled to take part in
military operations and as "human shields". These practices violate
international humanitarian law. Although the IDF announced through the State
Attorney on 24 May 2002 that it would not use civilians in military
operations, Amnesty International has continued to receive reports of cases
in which Palestinians were used by members of the IDF during military
operations, including as "human shields" (see, for example, the description
of the case resulting in the killing of Fares al-Sa'adi above).

The large number of cases of Palestinians used as "human shields" in IDF
military operations reveal a clear pattern. Typically the IDF would compel an
adult male(6) in their military operation to search property in each area of
the refugee camp. A Palestinian would be held by the IDF for a certain
period, sometimes for days. These Palestinians were placed at serious risk,
in some cases resulting in injury, as the following case illustrates.

Faisal Abu Sariya

Faisal Abu Sariya, a 42-year-old teacher, told Amnesty International
delegates that he was forced to accompany the IDF on military operations for
two days and during this period was used as a "human shield". During the time
he was in the custody of IDF soldiers, he reports being subjected to beatings
and other ill-treatment. During the time he acted as a "human shield" he
sustained a gunshot wound to the knee but was not given adequate medical care
and was unable to seek treatment until three days later.

On 4 April 2002, the second day of the incursion, Faisal Abu Sariya was at
home with his family in Jenin refugee camp. At approximately 4am there was
knocking at the door. A 15-year-old neighbour had been told by IDF soldiers
to enter Faisal Abu Sariya's home and to instruct the family to go to one
room. The soldiers then searched and occupied the house that day and evening.
Faisal Abu Sariya said that during this time he was taken into a side room
and beaten. He told Amnesty International delegates:

"An officer, whom I came to know as Eitan, told me to call another soldier [a
derogatory term]. I refused. He then told me that 'This was an order', but I
kept refusing. They then began to beat me with their boots and their fists on
my shoulders and on my legs. After this they went to the television and
pushed it on the floor."
On the morning of 5 April, Faisal Abu Sariya was taken by IDF soldiers from
his home:

"The officer, Eitan, said to me: 'Come with us'. I asked him 'Why should I go
with you? I am not wanted'. He told me to come with him just for 10 minutes,
just to a neighbour's house. I told him that if I go my children will start
crying. He again told me to come just for 10 minutes and then said, 'I would
prefer not to use force'. After this, I went with them. When we were leaving
the house the officer looked left and right and then grabbed me by the collar
and put me in front of him as we exited and went towards the neighbour's
house. There was no firing at the time, but Eitan crouched down just below me
and began firing to the left while the other soldiers moved towards the
neighbour's house.

"We entered the neighbour's house. There was no one there. About 15 soldiers
were with us at that time. I was told to stay in one room. I was then taken
from this house and told to go to another house alone, and to knock on the
door. I did this but no one answered. They told me to come back. I saw that
they had a type of metal box that they were carrying and they brought it to
the door. I then heard an explosion. I was then told to go back to the house
and to go in and if there were any people in the house to tell them to go to
one room. When I went back, I found another door. Again, I knocked but no one
replied. The soldiers exploded this door. At this time, they sent in a dog
and then told me to go in and if I was to find any closed doors, to open
them. The soldiers then came in after me.

"It was now about 3.30pm, I told the soldiers that I wanted to go home and
one of them replied that I could go back when they found someone else to
replace me. The soldiers were searching the house and then we went to the
bottom floor of the house where they put a hole in the wall between this
house and the next. I was taken by the soldiers and told to go through the
hole first. There were about six to seven soldiers that followed behind me.
From there, I was taken to another house. Again, the soldiers searched the
house; there was no one home. When leaving this house, Eitan grabbed me by
the neck and put his machine gun against my right hip. I walked about 20
metres like this. I was then taken to another house of a neighbour, Ibrahim
Fraihat, whom I know. When we entered, there were already soldiers there. I
was placed with Ibrahim in one room. We stayed there for the night"

During this period and the day that followed, Faisal Abu Sariya continued to
ask the soldiers to release him. In each case, the soldiers would tell him
that his release would be secured when they found someone else to replace
him. He said that during this period he or another detainee would be placed
in front of soldiers during house-to-house searches.

On three separate occasions he stated that a soldier placed his gun near or
on his body and in one case, he was made to stand in front of a soldier when
he opened fire. At approximately 5pm on 6 April Faisal Abu Sariya was
instructed to cross a small road and to knock on a door of a building
opposite as the soldiers could see some wires running from the building.
While he was crossing the road, an IDF unit that was positioned on a nearby
roof opened fire, wounding Faisal Abu Sariya seriously in the leg. He made
his way back to the IDF unit he was with who gave him some initial first aid,
but did not arrange for him to be taken to a hospital. Instead, the soldiers
had some Palestinian youths carry him. They were unable to reach the hospital
and so they left him in a home in the al-Damaj district of the camp. It was
not until 9 April, when the IDF told residents in this area to evacuate their
homes, that he was able to receive medical treatment.

Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees

During their operations in Jenin refugee camp between March and June 2002,
the IDF ill-treated and sometimes tortured hundreds of detained men mostly
between the ages of 16 and 55.(7) The IDF announced that 685 Palestinians had
been arrested in Jenin by 11 April. It appears that the only requirement for
detention was gender, nationality, and age.(8) Men were separated from women,
children and men over 55. They were stripped to their underwear, blindfolded
and their hands were bound with plastic cuffs. Reports of ill-treatment were
frequent and some said they were beaten; one detainee died as a result of
these beatings.

Those detained were removed from the refugee camp and taken first to Bir
Sa'adeh where they were held for between two and five days. During this
period they were ill-treated: former detainees interviewed said they were
forced to squat, with their heads lowered, for protracted periods of time;
their hands were still bound behind their back with plastic cuffs and they
were blindfolded. For the first 24 hours no food was reportedly supplied and
water distribution was not systematic (some report receiving some water,
others none at all). Most said that no blankets were furnished despite the
cool temperatures at night and there was limited or no access (or access
permitted in difficult or degrading circumstances) to toilet facilities. From
Bir Sa'adeh detainees were transferred to Salem detention centre; most were
released after three to 11 days' detention.

At the end of their detention, detainees were interrogated for periods
ranging from 15 to 60 minutes. Some indicated being asked basic questions;
others indicated that they were asked questions about political or armed
activity in the refugee camp or their own political views. Some detainees
were then transferred to other detention centres, sometimes to secret
detention centres; some were later released, others issued with administrat
ive detention orders or held pending trial before a military court. Each
detainee who was released was photographed at the conclusion of the
interview, usually twice. One photograph was given to the detainee marked
with his ID number and the authorities kept the other photo. For some, the
photograph now remains their only source of identification.(9)

Detainees were released several kilometres from one of three villages around
Salem, usually Rumaneh village. They were made to walk to the town; they were
frequently still without clothing and most without shoes. They were told to
remain in the village. Amnesty International interviewed several detainees
upon their release. They were being housed in temporary accommodation in
public buildings (in Rumaneh village, a school was converted into a temporary
shelter); families took others in. As the blockade was still continuing most
had no idea of what had happened to their families, who had remained in the
camp, or their property. They returned to Jenin only after 17 April 2002,
following the temporary IDF withdrawal from the refugee camp.

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