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Al Mezan Condemns Murder in Family Feud; Urges Competent Authorities to Protect Lives

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26 August 2018 |Reference 76/2018

Time: 12pm (local time)

 

At 7:30am on Sunday, 26 August 2018, doctors at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah city pronounced dead Mohammed Al-Sawarka, 24-year old resident of the city, as a result of a live bullet that pierced his back. Al Mezan’s documentation shows that the shooting took place in context of an armed feud between two families in Deir Al Balah. Police arrived at the location of the incident and announced that an investigation into the killing would be opened. 

 

Al Mezan’s documentation shows that from the start of 2018, 19 persons, of them three children, have been killed and 38, including six children and two women, injured in family feuds and other revenge related incidents in the Gaza Strip. This trend, of increased violence, reflects a worrying breakdown in the rule of law, in particular of citizens taking the law into their own hands in disregard of the justice system.

 

Al Mezan stresses its condemnation of killings committed in family feuds and expresses its condolences to the family of Al-Sawarka, the latest victim of an ongoing series of serious, unlawful acts of violence. Al Mezan warns against the rising number deaths caused by such acts and urges the competent authorities to take measures to protect lives and to promote security and public order in accordance with law and human rights standards.


Al Mezan calls for: 

  • -- Investigations to be launched into all cases of internal violence, including misuse of firearms,
  • -- Imposing effective gun control measures; and
  • -- Restricting the possession and use of firearms exclusively to law enforcement personnel.