The delegates visited Bir Zeit University Human Rights Action Project on 29 March just two hours before a student of the university, 'Abdullah Khalil Salah, was killed apparently by live ammunition fired by Israeli solidiers during a demonstration south of Ramallah. Amnesty International expressed concern that the deaths of 'Abdullah Khalil Salah, and two other Palestinians killed on 1 April, appeared to be a result of unlawful use of lethal force and called for an investigation into these deaths. Scores of Palestinians have been wounded by rubber bullets and some by live ammunition fired by the Israeli security forces over the past two weeks of stone-throwing demonstrations against the Israeli Government's authorization to build a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. Amnesty International urges the Israeli Government to respect United Nations standards which state that firearms should only be used in self-defence or defence against imminent danger. This has been particularly the case after the recent suicide bombs including one which killed three civilians in Tel Aviv in March.
Every authority has a right and duty to arrest perpetrators of violent crimes.
The delegates were also assured that those arrested for non-political offences had immediate access to their families. The death was vigorously condemned by Freih Abu Middein, the PA Minister of Justice and other officials. But in January, only one week before Yusuf al-Baba's death, the head of the istikhbarat had told an Amnesty International delegation that they would never use torture as it was 'primitive'. We welcome improvements, such as the access to prisons given to the International Committee of the Red Cross as well as the clear desire of many officials of the PA to ensure respect for the rule of law. But we regard immediate access to families and lawyers for all those arrested as one of the key necessities to end secret detention and torture which has played a part in the death of 11 Palestinians over the past 30 months.