Den engelske fredsvagt Tom Hurndall død

Af Palæstina Fredsvagter

Den engelske fredsvagt og fotograf Tom Hurndall døde i går aftes efter 10 måneder i koma. Tom Hurndall blev skud af israelsk militær i Rafah i Gaza i april sidste år.

Skudt da han ville redde legende børn

Tom Hurndall, 22 deltog sidste år som fredsvagt i byen Rafah i det sydlige Gaza.
Tom Hurndall var sammen med en gruppe internationale fredsvagter i Rafah for at sikre humanitær bistand og beskyttelse af civile palæstinensere i området.

Om eftermiddagen d. 11. april 2003 under en gåtur i den sydligste del af byen begyndte israelske soldater at skyde mod byen fra deres vagttårn.
Tom Hurndall opdagede nogle børn, som legede bag en jordvold og gik frem for at redde børnene i sikkerhed for skyderiet. Da han anden gang gik frem for at redde flere børn, blev han ramt af et skud i nakken.

Tom Hurndall har siden ligget i koma, først på et israelsk hospital og siden på et hospital i London. I går åndede han så ud.

Rafah – Helvede på jord

Byen er af flere blevet betegnet som “helvede på jord”. Byen er præget af jævnlige israelske invasioner, skyderier og ødelæggelse af huse og infrastruktur. Flere tusinde palæstinensere er i dag hjemløse, som resultat af israelernes hærgen. Den danske leder af FNs flygtningeindsats i de besatte områder, Peter Hansen har betegnet situationen i Rafah som katastrofal.

De faktiske tal siden september 2000 fortæller om situationens alvor i den palæstinensiske by:
261 dræbte, heraf 51 børn
2.500 sårede
1.420 ødelagte hjem
560 huse er delvist ødelagte
1.807 familier eller 9.747 personer er hjemløse.

Det var ligeledes i Rafah at den amerikanske fredsvagt Rachel Corrie en lille måned forinden blev dræbt, da en israelsk militær-bulldozer kørte hen over hende.

Soldat arresteret

Der har siden været afholdt en intern israelsk militær undersøgelse, som frikendte det israelske militær fuldstændigt for ansvar for beskydningen. Efter pres fra Tom Hurndalls forældre påbegyndtes endnu en undersøgelse. For 10 dage siden medførte det, at den soldat som skød Tom Hurndall nu er arresteret. Modsat tidligere afhøringer af soldaten erkender han nu, at han bevidst skød mod civile i området. Erkendelsen har medført hans arrestation.

Palæstina Fredsvagter udtrykker medfølelse

Det danske netværk Palæstina Fredsvagter udtrykker stor medfølelse med Toms familie. De har gennem de sidste ti måneder kæmpet en hård kamp for at sikre at sandheden om drabet på Tom kommer frem i lyset. Vore tanker er i dag med dem.

Tom led samme skæbne som tusinder af civile palæstinensere og er et eksempel på den tilfældighed hvormed den massive undertrykkelse i de besatte områder rammer dem. Hver dag dræbes civile palæstinensere, hver uge dræbes palæstinensiske børn.
Tom nåede at redde et par af dem, det blev hans skæbne.

Mindehøjtidelighed i London

Tom Hurndalls forældre indkalder til en mindehøjtidelighed foran Tony Blairs bolig i Downing Street kl. 17:30 i dag lokal tid. Højtideligheden er samtidig en protest mod den engelske regerings passivitet omkring drabet på Tom Hurndall.

Tom Hurndall var i april sidste år sammen med en gruppe internationale fredsvagter i Rafah i det sydlige Gaza for at sikre humanitær bistand og beskyttelse af civile palæstinensere i området.

Det danske netværk Palæstina Fredsvagter udtrykker stor medfølelse med Toms familie. De har gennem de sidste ti måneder kæmpet en hård kamp for at sikre at sandheden om drabet på Tom kommer frem i lyset. Vore tanker er i dag med dem.

Tom led samme skæbne som tusinder af civile palæstinensere og er et eksempel på den tilfældighed hvormed den massive undertrykkelse i de besatte områder rammer dem. Hver dag dræbes civile palæstinensere, hver uge dræbes palæstinensiske børn. Tom nåede at redde et par af dem, det blev hans skæbne.

Vi henviser i øvrigt til nedenstående Pressemeddelelse fra vor samarbejdspartner International Solidarity Movement (ISM) i Palæstina.

Palæstina Fredsvagter
http://www.palestinafredsvagter.dk/

TOM HURNDALL DIES AS FAMILY RECEIVE NEWS OF THE INDICTMENT OF HIS KILLER
http://www.tomhurndall.co.uk/press-release-14-1-04.asp

Tom Hurndall , the British Photographer shot in Gaza while shepherding young children out of the line of fire, died last night at 7.45pm. His death came nine months after an incident in which he was shot in the head by an IDF soldier which left him in a vegetative state. The traumatic nature of his injuries has meant that at any time Tom has been vulnerable to serious infection and his death came after his body was unsuccessful in overcoming an episode of Pneumonia.

At a hearing on Monday, a soldier arrested last week in connection with the shooting of Tom Hurndall, has finally been indicted on six charges: Aggravated Assault; two counts of Obstruction of Justice; Incitement to False Testimony; False Testimony; Improper Conduct.

The decision of the court to prosecute the soldier on a charge of Aggravated Assault rather than attempted murder is based on the assumption that the soldier did not intend to murder Tom. The family believes that based on its own extensive investigation and the soldiers testimony that he shot Tom using an advanced telescopic lens, it is improbable that the shot which entered Tom’s forehead was intended to do anything other than kill.

The family will be pressing its lawyers to ensure that the appropriate charge – murder, is applied in this case. The family lawyers were advised by the prosecuting judge yesterday afternoon that in the event of Tom’s death, the charges are likely to be changed. The new charges shall be either manslaughter or murder. The maximum penalty for Manslaughter is 20 years imprisonment and for Murder there is only one penalty – life imprisonment.

Tom’s family have made it clear that they will be satisfied with nothing less than the full prosecution for the person responsible for murdering Tom and they expect the imposition of the maximum penalty in this respect. They additionally expect that the harshest penalties should be imposed on all those involved in the obstruction of justice.

NB: A second soldier has been detained and is expected to be indicted on charges of Obstructing Justice and False Testimony.

The indictment of this soldier and his testimony have totally destroyed the credibility of the initial IDF investigation and Field Report. It was this Field Report – presented to the British Embassy in Tel Aviv and later to the family of Tom Hurndall last May, that totally exonerated the soldier(s) responsible in the shooting of Tom Hurndall. It is very much the case that if it were not for the ceaseless campaigning and lobbying on the part of Tom Hurndall’s family and friends and in particular the family’s own investigation (which amassed 14 independent eye witness statements along with photographic and ballistic evidence) a military police investigation is not likely to have been instigated and the truth would have remained uncovered. The family now assert that the existing initial inquiry procedure is by its nature flawed and prone to abuse and they ask that the IDF immediately review its initial inquiry procedure with a view to replacing it with an independent inquiry.

They further call on the Israeli Army to radically examine the current rules of engagement and to take steps to eradicate the existing culture of impunity which exists in the Occupied Territories. The family hope that the prosecution of those responsible for the shooting of Tom Hurndall and the prosecution of those responsible for the deliberate fabrication of
evidence, will send the strongest message to all soldiers on the ground in the Occupied Territories ‘that the shooting or killing of innocent civilians and breaches in basic human rights will not be tolerated.’

Se også

www.tomhurndall.co.uk

www.palsolidarity.org

Netavisen 15. januar 2004