Israel Threatens Witnesses to its Killings of Palestinians, and it Must Stop

June 22, 2014

Via Human Rights Watch : Israeli Army targets Man Whose Cameras Recorded Deaths

Israel should be investigating these deaths, but instead its forces seem intent on intimidating witnesses and ensuring future abuses won’t be caught on camera. The Israeli response to the killing of two boys looks more like an attempt to cover up than a serious investigation.
-Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director

(Jerusalem) – Israeli security forces ordered a Palestinian man to take down security cameras that captured the shooting deaths of two Palestinian boys in May, Human Rights Watch and Defense for Children International – Palestine said today. Footage recorded by cameras on the man’s building prompted an international outcry over the killings.

Israeli military officers berated Fakher Zayed, 47, for sharing the security videos with human rights groups, claimed he had lied and fabricated evidence, and threatened to bring unspecified legal actions against him if he did not remove the security cameras, Zayed told Human Rights Watch and DCI-Palestine. A soldier threatened to “unleash dogs on my children,” he said.

“Israel should be investigating these deaths, but instead its forces seem intent on intimidating witnesses and ensuring future abuses won’t be caught on camera,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The Israeli response to the killing of two boys looks more like an attempt to cover up than a serious investigation.”

http://www.juancole.com/2014/06/threatens-witnesses-palestinians.html