UN demands Palestinians investigate lynching in police station

Ahmad Izz Halaweh, the main suspect in the shooting of two PA police officers last week, was arrested on Tuesday and taken to the Juneid security compound, where he was beaten to death by security officers.

The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday denounced the lynching of a Palestinian detainee by Palestinian policemen in a Shechem (Nablus) police station, calling it an “apparent extrajudicial execution.”

James Heenan, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in Israel, said the UN was “extremely concerned about the apparent extrajudicial execution.”

“We welcome the prompt announcement of an investigation into the killing, by Prime Minister Hamdallah, and urge the Palestinian authorities to hold independent investigations into the string of events since last week that have now seen five people lose their lives,” he stated.

Heenan demanded that the policemen involved in the “unlawful killings” be “brought to justice and be suspended, pending the completion of the investigation.”

“There is no place for such acts in a State of Palestine that seeks to abide by international human rights law,” Heenan said. “Our Office will follow this case closely.”

Palestinian residents of Shechem took to the streets after the news of the lynch spread, and rioters who demanded justice clashed with security forces.

Palestinian factions from across the political spectrum reacted with outrage to the violent incident. Hamas claimed the killing marked a new height in the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) security collaboration with Israel, and Fatah — the PA’s party — accusing Hamas of taking advantage of the incident to “mislead the Palestinian people.”

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

HalawehJames HeenanPalestinian AuthorityUnited Nations