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A letter to Riad Anees

Peace be with you, Abu Ammar, Riad Anees, peace be with you who humanizes our melancholy, mitigates our pain and calms our fears following the nights of treachery in October 2000, in which the police killed, defamed and maltreated us, not for any guilt we perpetrated, but in deceit. They killed thirteen roses, they extinguished thirteen shining lights. They trampled on our dignity and pride; they tore up the dreams of our children and spread injustice and darkness in this sacred homeland. We, the martyrs' families, were in dire need of a warm bosom and an enlightened mind, and you were the brother, the father and the enlightened guide. Without anyone asking, you arose and collected the pieces around you, dressed our wounds and ignited the lights of hope. You did not leave a stone or a tree unturned in Wadi Ara without trying to extract evidence from it in order to convict the executioners. You also did not leave any person without asking him what the oppressors had done. You collected all the evidence you could and started to prepare a solid case based on evidence, witnesses, and laws. You wanted the indictment to be clear, so that they would bring the killers of the martyrs, Mohammad Jabareen, Ahmad Siyam, Musleh Abu Jarad, and Rami Ghara to justice.

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Attorney Riad Anees speaking at the first meeting to discuss
strategies for the October 2000 killings cases, Shafa'amr, 2000

We saw you and heard you determine the responsibility for the victims' deaths in the Triangle and the Galilee; the evidence was compelling and the indictment clear without uncertainty. We looked to you, Abu Ammar, and smiled in spite of the wounds, bloodshed and burning pain. Yes, you taught us how to remain steadfast in the face of the police, you showed us how to constrict the wounds and the pain and transfer it to patience and stability and how to rise to the occasion to complete the journey with you. You raised the banner of the martyrs and carried their bequest. You were the greatest comrade to the victims and their families who witnessed your wisdom, skill and

determination as well as your infinite kindness. You spent many years dealing with the case and we are well aware that if the Or Commission was searching for evidence to convict those responsible for the killings, they would have found it written in your penmanship with the flood of your talent, but they were blinded and deafened.

We saw you move between your colleagues in Adalah proposing, designing and taking action; you would take your legal colleagues with you to the center of the confrontation with the police confident in what you are doing and determined to succeed.

Today, Abu Ammar, as you are in the presence of the martyrs, your soul is still confronting the injustice in order to actualize right, dispense justice and remove oppression. Abu Ammar, we are not saying goodbye to you, as you are staying with us and in us.

Hassan Asleh
Committee of the Victims' Families (October 2000)

Spokesperson