Israel Assassinates Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
LAW August 27, 2001
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This morning in Ramallah the Israeli army assassinated PFLP Secretary General Mustafa Zabri (62), known as Abu Ali Mustafa. At about 11.15 a.m., two missiles fired from US manufactured Apache helicopters of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) hit his home and office. The latter was located on the third floor of an apartment block in a residential area, behind the Ramallah Governor’s office. Abu Ali Mustafa was killed instantly; his body was torn apart. Four people working in the building as well as a resident were injured.
According to information gathered by LAW, several IAF Apache helicopters had been hovering over the West Bank village of Kober, 15 kms northwest of Ramallah, since 9.45 in the morning. After firing the missiles which killed Abu Ali Mustafa, at about 11.15 a.m., the combat helicopters left the area.
The Israeli authorities acknowledged responsibility for the assassination and said the PFLP had been responsible for a number of attacks on Israelis. However, whatever the allegations against the PFLP, extrajudicial executions, where the suspect is “sentenced” to death in a secret process, without any opportunity to defend himself or to appeal the verdict, are absolutely prohibited by international law.
While the United States have repeatedly condemned the Israeli assassination policy, no conclusions have been drawn from the fact that US weapons are being used to pursue this policy and thus commit grave violations of international humanitarian law. So far US manufactured Apache helicopters have been used by the Israeli army in 10 attacks, causing the death of 12 Palestinian activists and 13 bystanders including two children.
LAW strongly condemns the Israeli policy of extrajudicial executions, which since the beginning of the current Intifada has claimed the lives of at least 28 Palestinian activists and 17 bystanders including two children, while others have been injured. As the case of Abu Ali Mustafa shows, Israel is assassinating senior Palestinian political leaders with the aim of suppressing the current Intifada. Extrajudicial executions against Palestinians did however not start with the Al Aqsa Intifada. Undercover units of the Israeli army also carried out extrajudicial executions during the first Intifada as well as during the period of the Oslo Process.
LAW calls on the international community to pressurize Israel to comply with international law. Extrajudicial executions are a fundamental violation of international human rights and humanitarian law. Extrajudicial executions constitute wilful killings and are as such a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention amount to war crimes and are subject to universal jurisdiction.
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LAW – The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is affiliate to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Fédération Internationale des Ligues de Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Member of the Euro- Mediterranean Human Rights Network