Israel shot dead a Palestinian teenager claiming he suffered a cardiac arrest

08/03/2011| IslamWeb

The results of an autopsy conducted on the body of 14-year-old Samir Abu-Miala whom the Israeli police claimed to have suffered a heart attack, revealed the details of a cold-blooded murder and a war crime. This was confirmed by Al-Haq Organization, a Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists.

Dr. Jalaal Al-Jaabiri, the Palestinian coroner who took part in the autopsy conducted at Abu Kabeer Autopsy Center, asserted that Abu-Miala was killed by a bullet shot against his left buttock which then penetrated the liver, leaving it completely ruptured and then went through the membrane of the heart to finally settle in the chest. It caused internal bleeding which led to the accumulation of two liters of blood in the abdomen.

According to the initial report, the autopsy revealed that he was shot at a very close range. This proves beyond doubt that the teenager was murdered in cold blood.

The Israeli police repeatedly announced for three days through its spokesman that the Abu-Miala died while the Israeli police were chasing him along with other children and then he collapsed on the ground where it became clear later that he had died due to a heart attack.

Al-Haq Organization asserted that the Israeli police tried all the possible means to prevent a medical autopsy or the participation of a Palestinian doctor in the process.Sha‘wan Jabarin, Al-Haq's General Director, said "That was an attempt to conceal the crime particularly because an external examination of the corpse did not reveal any trace of the bullet's penetration."  

In a press conference attended by Haatim Abdel Qaadir, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council from Jerusalem, Jabarin asserted that the results of the autopsy proved that the bullet could not have penetrated that part of the body in this manner except if the pelvis was bent down at a right angle of 90 degrees. He added that the Palestinian minor was killed in cold blood after his arrest.

A few hours before the end of the autopsy, the Israeli police issued a statement where it withdrew its former report about the death of Abu-Miala by a heart attack and acknowledged that he had been shot. Al-Haq's General Director raised many questions regarding the Israeli Medical Center which falsely declared that the child had died due to a heart attack. He also pointed out that the official medical procedures require X-rays and ultrasound images. He indicated that if a medical team had supervised the treatment of Abu-Miala, they would have discovered the enormous quantity of blood inside his body as well as the ruptured liver.

Abdel Qadir asserted that the Israeli police tried to hide the crime, pointing out that Abu-Miala’s clothes are still hidden and that they would show the real distance of firing by knowing the amount of bullet powder on his trousers. He demanded that international human rights organizations carry out a complete investigation into the death of Abu-Miala. "This is a war crime and state terrorism and this entails sentencing the politicians for committing such atrocities which are carried out by the Israeli police in accordance with a certain approach," Abdel Qadir added.  

The Israeli police laid a condition for releasing the martyr's body to his family that his funeral would only be attended some of his family members and that he would be buried at night. That was rejected by the martyr's family which made an interception through the Israeli lawyer Leah Tsemel to nullify the police action.

Al-Haq Organization appealed to the Palestinian Health Ministry as well as the Palestinian public opinion not to bury any body, whether the causes of death are known or not, before conducting an autopsy, noting that the manner in which the child was killed is not revealed through external examination.

He pointed out that the dossier of Israeli war crimes cannot contain only words and phrases; rather, this should be supported by scientific evidence to document these crimes and question those responsible for them in the future.