UN expresses concern at Israeli treatment of Palestinian demonstrators

The UN envoy for freedom of expression wound up a mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories Sunday, expressing concern at Israeli treatment of Palestinian demonstrators. Special rapporteur Frank La Rue told a news conference in Jerusalem that he had been in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on December 9, when a Palestinian protester was fatally injured by a tear gas round fired by Israeli troops. “I was informed that a young man had been injured with a tear gas canister to the head,” he said. “I went outside but did not witness the actual incident.” Mustafa Abdelrazek al-Tamimi, 28, died in hospital the next day. La Rue said that when he raised the incident with a senior army officer he was told that two military investigations had been launched, one of which is to be concluded by December 20. “Any use of force against demonstrators or rioters must be minimal and proportionate to the threat posed,” he said. “While the use of tear gas to disperse a crowd may be legitimate under certain circumstances, tear gas canisters should never be fired directly at demonstrators.” La Rue said that while Israeli army regulations appear to forbid such fire there are allegations that soldiers in the field do not always obey the rules. “I have been informed of similar cases involving the use of tear gas canisters resulting in several injuries and one death,” he said. “Without adequate sanctions for any violations of these rules, such regulations can become merely symbolic,” he said. La Rue’s fact-finding visit to Israel and the Palestinians was the first by a UN freedom of expression rapporteur since the unpaid post was created in 1993. He said that his final report would be presented to the UN Human Rights Council “in the first week of June.” The visit came as Israeli MPs mulled a series of draft bills slammed by critics as “anti-democratic” including one which would dramatically increase penalties for “defamatory” articles in the press, on a radio or television broadcast, or even on Facebook. Another draft law seeks to limit foreign government funding to Israeli NGOs that oppose Israeli occupation and settlement in the Palestinian territories. Last month, Israel’s communications ministry ordered the closure of an Israeli-Palestinian radio station, accusing it of operating a pirate broadcast because it is licensed in the Palestinian territories.