Ref: 89/2009
Date: 15 July 2009
Time: 12:30 GMT
PCHR Condemns Police Assault on
Wedding Party of al-Madhoun Clan in Beit Lahia
The
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns police attacks
against a wedding part of the al-Madhoun clan on Tuesday in Beit Lahia
town in the northern Gaza Strip. The police attacked the party, opened
fire and violently beat attendants, after participants raised a portrait
of Sameeh al-Madhoun, a Fatah activist who was killed in 2007 in the
context of internal fighting between the Fatah and Hamas movements.
According to
investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 22:40 on Tuesday, 14
July 2009, the Palestinian police stormed a wedding party of the al-Madhoun
clan in Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip. Police officers
fired into the air and at the house of the bridegroom's father, 'Abdul
Hakim al-Madhoun. As a result, 4 persons, including two women, were
lightly wounded:
1)
Ne'ma Salim
al-Madhoun, 60, wounded by shrapnel from a gunshot to the left foot;
2)
Tahreer
Ibrahim al-Madhoun, 22, wounded by shrapnel from a gunshot to the right
foot;
3)
Rabah Ibrahim
al-Madhoun, 48, wounded by shrapnel from a gunshot to the head; and
4)
Mahmoud 'Abdul
Hakim al-Madhoun, 21, wounded by shrapnel from a gunshot to the head.
Police
officers also violently beat a number of guests and participants.
According to
information obtained by PCHR from eyewitnesses, the police stormed the
wedding party after members of the clan raised a portrait of Sameeh al-Madhoun,
a Fatah activist who was killed by militants from Hamas on 14 June
2007. Earlier, Dr. Nafez al-Madhoun, Rapporteur of the Legal Committee
in the Palestinian Legislative Council, attempted to convince members of
the clan to remove the portrait, but they refused.
PCHR condemns
this attack and calls upon the Government in Gaza to investigate and
bring those responsible to justice. PCHR further emphasizes the need to
have clear instructions regulating the use of force, including firearms,
by the police to ensure respect for public freedoms and the safety of
people.
