Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Press Releases, 30 December 2013
The PalestinianCenter for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon the Attorney General in Ramallah to open a serious investigation into regrettable incidents that took place in Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West Bank on Friday, 27 December 2013, as a result of which a man was killed and another one was injured.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR and eyewitnesses’ accounts, at approximately 12:00 on Friday, 27 December 2013, Rifqi Sa’id al-Rukh, 49, from Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West Bank, was killed by a bullet to the head during an exchange of fire between two families in the camp. Soon after, Palestinian security forces were deployed in the camp and a number of public figures in the camp, including Sheikh Mahmoud al-Sa’di, a leader of Islamic Jihad, intervened to prevent any further developments. At approximately 16:00 on the same day, a number of security officers wearing black uniform attempted to arrests Sheikh al-Sa’di. They fired a number of live bullets, 3 of which hit Sheikh al-Sa’di in his left leg. Immediately, a number of young men threw stones at the security officers who were forced to leave the area. Sheikh al-Sa’di was evacuated to the hospital.
PCHR strongly condemns these regrettable incidents in Jenin, and:
1. Calls upon the Attorney General to seriously investigate the death of al-Rukh and the injury of Sheikh al-Sa’di and bring the perpetrators before justice;
2. Calls upon security services to open a serious investigation into the excessive use of force by security officers while attempting to arrest Sheikh al-Sa’di and publish the results of such investigation;
3. Calls upon the government in Ramallah to issue clear instructions to control the use of firearms by law enforcement officials.