HRW slams 'culture of impunity' following Israeli border cop trial

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned the “impunity enjoyed by Israeli forces” following the nine-month prison sentence handed down to Israeli border police officer Ben Deri for the killing of 17-year-old Palestinian Nadim Nuwara.

The global rights group noted how “the video evidence, witness statements and medical records seen by Human Rights Watch and others strongly suggested that soldiers shot Nuwara from about 60 metres away even though he posed no imminent threat to them.”

These circumstances “would make the killing unlawful”, HRW continued, adding:

Wilful killing of civilians in the occupied territory by Israeli security forces is a war crime.

Mohammed Salameh, 16, was also “killed in the same chain of events”, but “Israeli prosecutors closed the investigation into Salameh’s death, claiming there was no evidence Israeli gunfire had killed him. His family, unlike Nuwara’s, had refused an autopsy.”

Read: Israel kills 3 Palestinians in separate incidents along Gaza border

According to HRW, “a conviction of any kind marks a rare exception to the impunity enjoyed by Israeli forces. However, those who commit war crimes can face criminal prosecutions abroad as a matter of universal jurisdiction or in international judicial forums.”

“Once again, our family is reminded of the painful loss of Nadim,” his father, Siam, told HRW. “This unjust court verdict shows a state that is unwilling to uphold justice for Palestinians.”