To:
Deputy Commissioner Amos Yakov
Commander of the Jerusalem Border Guard
Israel Police
Re: Actions of the Border Guard in the area adjacent to the Anata school complex
Firstly, we would like to congratulate you on your new position and to wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. The maintenance of law and order in Jerusalem is of utmost importance, and we are sure you will carry out the task entrusted to you while concomitantly guaranteeing protections for the residents’‘ rights.
For the last year The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has been running a special project to promote the rights of East Jerusalem residents in a number of spheres. Among other things we have been actively working to improve municipal services and to improve the physical infrastructure in East Jerusalem. In the context of our work, we have received complaints about police brutality against residents of East Jerusalem, including violent attacks that were perpetrated by Border Guard policemen. We would like to establish a permanent channel of communication with you in order to enable us to work together to ensure that such incidents do not re-occur.
In particular, we wish to bring to your attention the complaints we have received regarding the actions of Border Guard policemen who are posted next to the Anata schools complex in East Jerusalem.
The complaints refer to the following issues:
1. When construction of the Separation Barrier began in East Jerusalem, a Border Guard unit was stationed at the work site on the road that connects the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Dahia Alsalam (the peace neighborhood), with the village of Anata. Three Palestinian schools are also located on this road, one next to the other: the Salah al-Din Elementary School for boys and girls, the Anata Comprehensive School for Boys, and the Anata Comprehensive School for Girls, in which hundreds of East Jerusalem schoolchildren study.
2. About six months ago the construction of the Separation Barrier was completed in this area; however, Border Guard forces are still permanently stationed in close proximity to the schools.
3. On Tuesday, 16 January 2007, the presence of the Border Guard forces led to a disaster. Border police shot metal bullets covered with rubber and fatally wounded Abir Aramin, a ten-year-old student, who was walking with friends next to the school grounds. Abir died of her wounds two days later.
4. In light of the seriousness of the incident, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee discussed the issue and to the best of our knowledge it is currently under investigation by the Judea and Samaria regional police.
5. Over the last few days the Border Guard forces have repositioned themselves next to the schools, and from complaints we have received it appears that during this operative action the police units utilized various types of weaponry.
6. In a tour we carried out in the area on Tuesday, 13 March 2007, we saw a Border Guard jeep, license plate no: 22453 arrive in the area, from which a stun grenade was thrown. As a result students came out of their classrooms and began throwing stones in the direction of the Border Guard unit. The unit reacted by firing teargas.
7. From complaints we received and the testimonies of the principal of the Anata Comprehensive School for boys, and the head of the school parents` committee for the Anata schools, it is apparent that the local residents viewed the actions of the Border Guard policemen as a deliberate provocation. Therefore, their reaction in some cases was to throw stones. Such action usually results in the military forces opening fire, or resorting to the use of stun grenades, teargas or rubber bullets.
The situation described above, raises, in our opinion, a number of questions both regarding the presence of Border Guard forces next to schools, and the area’‘s open fire orders.
The reason for the presence of a Border Guard force in the area was in the past based on the construction of the Separation Barrier. As the construction was completed more than six months ago, it is not clear to us why the Border Guard unit continues to be deployed next to the hundreds of Palestinian schoolchildren who study there. It is well known that their presence creates a high level of tension among the residents and leads to unnecessary conflict. In our opinion the continued presence of the Border Guard is superfluous in the absence of any realistic security threat.
An additional fear is that policemen’‘s periodic ad hoc firing of the weaponry detailed above at the school buildings, represents a new trend of disobeying the area’‘s open fire orders.
Thus, In order to achieve an in-depth understanding of the situation in the area, and to draw your attention to reports we have received regarding ongoing incidents in the grounds next to the school, we feel it would be beneficial for us to meet as early as possible to find a common solution to improve this situation.
Respectfully
Adv. Tali Nir
last updated : 25/03/07
