Israeli police show school kids how to 'confirm kill' of already incapacitated suspect in violation of the law

10/05/2017

Demonstration by police at community relations event for 5th grade Israeli pupils contradicts the law, which only allows such force in situations of threats to life.

An Israeli police re-enactment of officers "confirming the kill" of an already incapacitated suspect violates the law, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel said on Wednesday, 10 May 2017.

Two days ago, on Monday, 8 May 2017, four Israeli special patrol officers participating in a community relations program before a fifth-grade school children demonstrated how they open fire on a suspect even after he has already been rendered incapacitated in order to ensure that he was killed, according to a police narration at the scene.

A parent in attendance filmed the entire incident and posted the video on her Facebook page.

[CLICK HERE to watch the video of the police demonstration]

Adalah General Director Hassan Jabareen said: "The Israeli police practice of 'confirming a kill' doesn't just illustrate that police kill Palestinians against the law – even those who pose no danger to officers or to others – but also constitutes a culture of violence directed at Palestinians in Israel."

Following the Israeli police killing of Palestinian man Mohammad Abu Khalaf in East Jerusalem in February 2016, the Justice Ministry's Police Investigations Division (Mahash) dismissed Adalah's demand to probe the shooting, specifying that "these are the instincts of Border Police officers." Adalah argued in a complaint to 'Mahash' that this incident, in fact, amounts to an "extrajudicial execution", in violation of both Israeli and international law.

Monday's demonstration – conducted in the framework of a police community relations initiative before dozens of children – revealed that Israeli officers implement a "shoot-to-kill" policy ensuring that even prone, incapacitated suspects, who are not a danger to the lives of others, are shot dead.

In September 2015, the Israeli government announced a relaxation in the police’s detailed "rules of engagement." The amendment of these rules of engagement led to a dramatic increase in the use of lethal force by police, apparently in unjustifiable circumstances, including many instances of what appear to be extra-judicial executions (EJEs), with police resorting to the harshest, often lethal means rather than arresting the suspects when they no longer posed any danger.

This "shoot-to-kill" phenomenon against Palestinian youth has become alarmingly widespread, particularly in East Jerusalem, as well as other parts of the West Bank

EJEs are effectively prohibited under the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).