On 25 October 2007, Adalah sent an urgent letter to the Deputy State Attorney, Shai Nitzan and the Military Advocate General Avihai Mandelblit demanding that they make public the measures and punishments used against soldiers who violate the Israeli Supreme Court’s ruling that banned the Israeli army’s use of Palestinian civilians as human shields during military operations in 2005. (See H.C. 3799/02, Adalah, et. al. v. Yizhak Eitan, Commander of the Israeli Army in the West Bank, et. al. [petition accepted 6 October 2005]). Adalah further demanded the publication of clear directives for the army regarding the ban on the use of human shields. The letter was written by Adalah Attorney Fatmeh El-‘Ajou.

In March 2007, Adalah sent two letters to the Deputy State Attorney following an Israeli military operation launched in Nablus during February 2007 demanding an investigation into the use of Palestinians including minors as human shields by Israeli soldiers and commanders in violation of the Supreme Court’s decision, and the criminal indictment of those responsible. The Military Advocate General responded in March 2007, stating his intention to open an investigation into the charges and to examine the arguments raised by Adalah.

According to media reports published last week, the Israeli Army’s Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi chastised Brigadier General Yair Golan, the outgoing commander of the Israeli forces in the West Bank, and delayed his promotion for at least nine months because under his command, Israeli soldiers used Palestinians as human shields.

Attorney El-‘Ajou emphasized in the letter that these steps are completely inadequate and insufficient. Further, she argued that the Israeli army command is obliged to publish clear, written directives to all army units to clarify the Supreme Court’s decision so soldiers know what is permitted and what is prohibited. In addition, Adalah demanded that the organization be informed of the developments in the aforementioned investigation into the use of Palestinians as human shields in Nablus.

For more information, see Adalah’s Special Web Report on “Human Shields”:

For testimonies regarding the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, see B’Tselem: http://www.btselem.org/English/Testimonies/Index.asp?TF=12&image.x=7&image.y=5