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Annual Violations Report
was an extremely sensitive, quiet child lacking the physical abilities to carry
out a stabbing attack.
In November 4 th , 2015, Addameer and Adalah center filed an urgent letter
to the Police Internal Investigations Department (Machash) demanding the
immediate opening of a criminal investigation into the police officers involved
in Ewisat’s execution. The letter also demanded performing an autopsy in the
presence of a medical examiner appointed by the family before the release of
Ewisat’s body. The latter request came in light of the Israeli police’s decision,
upheld by an Israeli court, not to perform an autopsy and settle for the police
officers’ testimonies to close the investigation. Adalah and Addameer’s
letter, filed by their attorneys Aram Mahameed and Mohammad Mahmoud
respectively, said that “the Israeli police’s refusal to perform an autopsy, in the
absence of other evidence, reinforces the serious suspicion of foul play, as
well as represents an attempt to bury evidence against the police and change
the course of the investigation before it even begins.”
The letter reaffirmed that the Israeli police had no justification in using lethal
force, and could have used other measures to arrest the child, saying “If the
police officers intended to arrest and search Ewisat, they had had a vast array
of measures such as warning him or firing a warning shot in the air.” The letter
further indicated that “Ewisat’s death left no doubt that shooting to kill became
the usual default action for Israeli police officers against Palestinians.”
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