(RSF/IFEX) – On 29 April 2003, RSF called on Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz to disclose the progress that has been made in the promised investigation into the recent killing of a Palestinian cameraman, reportedly by an Israeli army soldier. The organisation’s secretary-general, Robert Ménard, welcomed the army’s “competence and goodwill” in quickly announcing that […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 29 April 2003, RSF called on Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz to disclose the progress that has been made in the promised investigation into the recent killing of a Palestinian cameraman, reportedly by an Israeli army soldier.
The organisation’s secretary-general, Robert Ménard, welcomed the army’s “competence and goodwill” in quickly announcing that an inquiry would be launched into the 19 April death of journalist Nazeh Darwazeh in the centre of Nablus.
Ménard said an RSF representative would travel to Israel in May to follow progress in the investigation. He also asked General Mofaz to clarify who is in charge of the case, what progress the inquiry had made to date, what the next steps are (such as hearing evidence from witnesses and soldiers and reconstructing the scene of the incident), and when the results of the investigation would be announced.
Darwazeh, who was shot dead while filming clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops, was the fourth journalist to be killed in the Occupied Territories since the beginning of the second Intifada in September 2000. Witnesses said an Israeli soldier, hidden behind a tank parked in an alleyway, shot the journalist at close range. The army said Palestinian gunmen were in the alley at the time.
Copies of Ménard’s letter to General Mofaz were sent to the United States, Russian and Greek embassies in Israel, the United Nations in New York and several human rights organisations.
