PHRMG Forces Nablus DCO to Finally Accept Settler Violence Complaints

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PHRMG Hotline Update # 5/2002

Jerusalem, March 11, 2002

Over seven months after a violent group of armed settlers damaged his car in Nablus, Ziad Yusef Shahadeh Abu Alia was finally able to file a complaint with the Nablus DCO.

At about 5 a.m. on 20 July 2001, Abu Alia, a taxi driver, was traveling with several passengers on the road between al-Maghayyir and Duma in the Nablus district when he was forced to stop by five armed settlers blocking the road. The settlers pointed their weapons at Abu Alia and asked him where he was from. Suspecting that they might be looking to attack residents of his home village of al-Maghayyir, Abu Alia lied, telling them that he was from Duma. The settlers lowered their weapons and began to damage his car. Abu Alia quickly drove away from the site. Upon returning home, he video-taped the damage to his car and attempted to file a complaint with the Israeli police. However, due to the restrictive closures around Nablus, Abu Alia was unable to reach a police station. Upon the advice of the PHRMG, he went to the Nablus DCO, which refused to accept his complaint.

Thereafter, over the course of several months, PHRMG contacted several Israeli authorities to clarify the role of the DCOs in dealing with criminal matters. In February, we finally received a response from Raffi Yaffe, spokesman for the West Bank police, confirming that Israeli police representatives in the DCO offices were required to record criminal complaints and transfer the cases to the appropriate police station for investigation. In a letter to the Nablus DCO to which Yaffe’s letter was attached, the PHRMG demanded that complaints filed by our clients from Nablus and the surrounding area be accepted. We pointed out that the lack of compliance on the part of the DCO creates the impression that there is no legal redress for Palestinian victims of settler violence. Within several days Abu Alia was finally able to file his complaint.

Two other Palestinian men who were assaulted by the armed settlers at the same location on the morning of 20 July had also been unsuccessful in their initial attempts to file complaints with the Nablus DCO. After receiving Abu Alia’s complaint, the Beit ‘El police station contacted PHRMG, requesting that the two men come to the station to file complaints. Unable to reach Beit ‘El, one of these victims, Mansour Faraj Nisrallah Zein el-Din, filed a complaint with the Nablus DCO on 7 March. The damage to all three cars was recorded on video.

PHRMG Obtains Apology from Israeli Court with Conformation that Arabic is an Official Language

On 25 February, PHRMG received confirmation from the Jerusalem District Court that official court documents may be submitted in Arabic. When the PHRMG legal team went to court representing the interests of the family of murder victim Ahmad Ibrahim Ebayat in February, the court refused to accept a Power of Attorney (proof of attorney-client relationship) in Arabic. PHRMG protested this decision, objecting that our clients should not be forced to sign documents in Hebrew, which they cannot understand. We received an apology from the court along with confirmation that official documents in Arabic are acceptable.

The case involves the stabbing to death of Ahmed Ebayat on 16 October 2001 as he and a co-worker were leaving the billiard club in Talpiyot where they worked. They passed by a group of 10 young Israeli men who began throwing stones at them. The two men tried to escape but were encircled and beaten by the mob. The Palestinian man accompanying Ebayat saw a tall Israeli man stab Ebayat several times before the group fled. Ebayat was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital where he died. The suspect was arrested and charged with murder. PHRMG is participating in the trial, representing the interests of the victim’s family in ensuring that the murderer is adequately punished.