Fresh evidence of Jenin atrocities

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=286197

The Independent (London), 18 April 2002

Fresh evidence of Jenin atrocities

By Phil Reeves in Jerusalem

Evidence of atrocities by Israeli troops in Jenin refugee camp grew 
yesterday when a British pathologist said he found "highly suspicious" 
wounds during the first autopsy on a victim.

Derrick Pounder, professor of forensic medicine at Dundee University, who 
is working with Amnesty International, visited the ruined camp and said: 
"Claims that a large number of civilians died and are under the rubble are 
highly credible.It is not believable that only a few people have been 
killed, given the reports we have that a large number of people were inside 
three and four-storey buildings when they were demolished."

The autopsy on the 38-year-old Palestinian revealed that "he was either 
shot in the foot, and then in the back, or shot in the back first ? 
receiving a fatal wound ? and his corpse was for some reason shot in the 
foot," he said. "Whichever order the shots occurred in, it was highly 
suspicious".

As the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, left for America yesterday, 
having failed to secure a ceasefire, international fury was growing over 
events at Jenin. The camp, home to 13,500 refugees, was stormed by Israeli 
forces a fortnight ago in what Mr Sharon called a counter-terrorism 
operation against Palestinian militants. The furore has severely damaged 
Israel's international standing, sending it to its lowest point for several 
decades.

Palestinians who survived the long battle ? in which Israeli helicopters 
fired rockets and machine-guns into a densely populated area ? have said 
the Israeli army committed many atrocities. Witnesses have described people 
being shot as they surrendered; houses being bulldozed with people inside; 
the use of human shields; the burial of 32 bodies in a trench, and one case 
of Israeli soldiers turning on the household gas supply before tossing a 
stun grenade into a room full of people.

Richard Cook, head of operations for Unrwa ? the UN agency for Palestinian 
refugees ? visited the camp yesterday. He said: "I was absolutely appalled. 
I anticipated it to a degree but the devastation was much greater than I 
expected."

The Foreign Office said "disproportionate and excessive" force had been 
used by Israel, and "clearly civilians were not properly protected".


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