The Appeal (H)
On 2 May 2005, Adalah filed an appeal to Iran Shindar, the Head of the Ministry of Justice Police Investigation Unit (“Mahash”), demanding the cancellation of its decision to close the investigation file against Border Police officers who opened fire on and killed 28 year-old Moursi Jabali on 22 July 2003, and shot and injured his companion, Mr. Shihab Jaber. Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker submitted the appeal on behalf of Ms. Maram Jabali, the widow of the deceased, and Mr. Shihab Jaber.
At around 12:00pm on 22 July 2003, Moursi Jabali and Shihab Jaber, both Palestinian citizens of Israel, left a coffee shop in the town on Taybeh, heading for their homes by car. At a certain point, Mr. Jaber realized that he was driving the car against the flow of traffic, and therefore quickly turned into the correct lane. At that moment, according to eyewitnesses, a Border Police car approached. Three officers exited the police car and started shooting at the car in which the two men were traveling, which resulted in Moursi Jabali’s being hit in the head, and Shihab Jaber in the shoulder.
The following day, Attorney Baker submitted a complaint to the Attorney General, and Mahash, demanding the launching of a criminal investigation into the shooting, and that the Border Police officers involved should be brought to trial on the charges of killing and causing grievous bodily harm. Mahash opened an investigation into Mr. Jabali’s death following Adalah’s request. After filing the complaint, Adalah also provided Mahash with a list of names of eyewitnesses to the incident. On 6 March 2005, Mahash decided to close the file, on the grounds that the shooting of the deceased and his friend does not constitute an illegal action necessitating the punishment of the officers involved (“lack of guilt”).
According to eyewitnesses, the Border Police opened fire on the car without issuing any prior warning, either by shouting out to the two men, or by firing shots into the air as a sign for the car to stop, as they are obliged to under the internal police guidelines for opening fire. Contradicting eyewitness accounts, the officers claimed that they did warn the victims before opening fire several times, either by calling out warnings or by firing warning shots into the air.
It should be stressed that the Border Police officers stated before Mahash investigators that Moursi Jabali and Shihab Jaber did not pose any danger to the life of any police officer, but that they (the police officers) opened fire in the belief that those traveling in the car were suspected of planning to carry out a suicide attack inside Israel. The officers further claimed that the victims’ car matched the description of a car suspected of entering Israel on the same day for the purpose of carrying out a bombing operation.
Adalah argued in the appeal that the many inconsistencies between the testimonies of the officers involved indicate that their statements are unreliable, necessitating their being brought before the courts. Their prosecution is particularly imperative since documents exist which prove the inaccuracy of their statements. For example, three of the officers claimed that they fired at the car’s tires before shooting higher. However, photographs of the car taken on the day of the incident prove that just two bullets were fired at one of the tires, whereas more than ten were shot at where Mr. Jabali and Mr. Jaber were sitting. Many bullets were also fired into the back of the car. Similarly, the autopsy report of the deceased’s body indicated that around nine bullets entered his body in various places. These bullets include the one which entered his head and caused his death. This information clearly and categorically refutes the Border Police officers’ claims.
Adalah found further inconsistencies in the police officers’ testimonies regarding their distance from the men’s car at the time of the shooting: whilst one officer claimed that they were positioned at a short distance of only one meter from the car, another officer claimed that they were 12 meters away, and a third 25 meters away.
In spite of the many and patent discrepancies in the police officers’ testimonies, Mahash accepted their statements, finding no guilt or criminal responsibility, including on the charges of killing and causing grievous bodily harm.
As Adalah emphasized in the appeal, failure to bring the criminally responsible officers to trial for the killing of Moursi Jabali and the injury of Shihab Jaber will further institutionalize a culture of impunity within the police forces. The criminal prosecution of Border Police officers is the only way to guarantee that the evidence is properly examined, and the truthfulness or otherwise of their statements established.