Israeli policeman sentenced to only 6.5 years for killing a Palestinian in 2002

Thursday September 04, 2008 23:25 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Israeli Central Court in Jerusalem sentenced, Yanai Lazla, an Israeli border policeman to 6.5 years for killing Omran Abu Hamdiyya, a Palestinian resident from the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Abu Hamdiyya was kidnapped and placed in a military jeep and as the jeep sped away Lazla and three other policemen threw him out.

Omran Abu Hamdiyya

On December 30, 2002, approximately at 8 P.M Abu Hamdiyya was near his home along with his friends when a border police jeep stopped near them, and the policemen forced Abu Hamdiyya into the jeep and sped away.

Less the forty minutes later, the friends of Abu Hamdiyya found his body in on the roadside near the Industrial Zone.

The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem) reported that Abu Hamdiyya was first beaten and abused by the soldiers, and when he was thrown out of the speeding jeep, his head struck the pavement with great force causing instant death.

The case against the soldiers was filed by B’Tselem and the Al Haq Palestinian Human Rights Group.

B’Tselem said that the policemen also abused several other Palestinians in Hebron. The Center questioned whether a sentence of 6.5 years is enough for a crime as grave as manslaughter.

“It is questionable whether a sentence of 6½ years is compatible with an offense as grave as manslaughter. But bringing the policeman to justice, even if only partially, is a rare instance in which the system of justice in Israel meets its obligation to hold security forces accountable for illegally harming Palestinians. As a rule, the authorities refrain from enforcing the law on soldiers and police officers who commit crimes of violence. Presumably, the tragic results of this case, together with the high profile it was given by the media, led the authorities to deviate from their custom and prosecute the policemen”, B’Tselem reported.

 B’Tselem also said several acts of abuse carries by Israeli soldiers and placement in the occupied territories go unpunished as these acts of violence and abuse are not properly probed and many cases even do not make it to the court room.

“ Since the beginning of the intifada, in 2000, B'Tselem has reported to the Department for the Investigation of Police (DIP) 130 cases of police violence against Palestinians (not including shooting cases)”, B’Tselem said,  “Of these, DIP opened 100 investigations, which led to the prosecution of only nine police officers and disciplinary proceedings against only four police officers”.

The Arabs48 news website reported that the four policemen were arrested and charges were filed against them on May 1, 2003.

The charges against them included killing Abu Hamdiyya and obstructing the investigation.  The Probe Committee which was in charge of investigating the incident stated that the four policemen misused their authority and carried acts that harmed civilians and properties in Hebron.

“The indictment against the four policemen stated, in part, that they “went on a campaign of abuse and cruelty against residents of the city, misusing their authority, by engaging in violent actions intended to cause physical injury and to damage property, their objective being to injure, humiliate, and harass… During their journeys on the streets of the city. . . the defendants put into the jeep local residents that they came upon by chance and ordered them to jump from the jeep while it was moving. One of the local persons who refused to do this while the jeep was moving at very high speed was pushed out of the jeep by the defendants, fell onto the road, striking his head, and died as a result… In addition, the defendants grabbed other local persons and beat them, a club and rifle butt being among the means used, stole property, and threw tear gas and stun grenades at local residents for no reason.” B’Tselem reported.

The committee added that the soldiers kidnapped several random residents and forced them to jump from their speeding jeep. Omran was ordered to jump from the speeding jeep and when he refused, the soldiers threw him out of the speeding vehicle.

The soldiers also abducted several civilians and struck them with batons and weapons; they also stole property and threw gas bombs and concussion grenades at a number of residents without any reason.

On May 16, 2003, Israeli Newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published an interview with the driver of the jeep Basim Wahbi, one of the four policemen, who revealed details of the incident.

Wahbi said that while he was driving the jeep on high speed (70-80 kilometers/hour) he heard one of the soldiers identified as Shahar ordering Omran “to step out of the jeep”.

Omran stood in the middle of the jeep and held onto a belt attached to the roof of the jeep while Shahar and another soldier identified as Yenai, pushed him out.  

“He fell to the ground, I heard his head hitting the ground, I heard his head cracking”, Wahbi said, “I wanted to slow down abut they shouted at me and told me to drive back to the base, and said ‘he is dead, he is dead’”.

Wahbi added that after arriving at the base they all agreed to create a fake statement and stick by it.

After the army probed the incident, the four were arrested and were charged on May 1, 2003, with killing Omran, abusing three other Palestinians and obstructing the investigation.

On May 6, 2003, charges of abuse against Palestinian civilians were filed against eleven other policemen who served in the same unit.

On September 22, 2005, Wahbi was sentenced to 4.5 years after he was found guilty of aiding the soldiers who committed the crime.

On 28 April 2008, Yanai Lazla, who threw Abu Hamdiyya out of the jeep, and was convicted of manslaughter and other offenses, was sentenced to 6½ years’ imprisonment. The proceedings against the other two defendants continue.

hebron | israeli attacks | news report saed at imemc dot org