Border Guard Policemen Admit They Abused Palestinian Teen

Policemen who were filmed beating youth at Hawara village questioned by police Friday, admit to act

Taken from YNet News, Israel, 03.23.07
By Efrat Weiss

The three Border Guard policemen who were caught on camera beating a Palestinian teen in the Hawara village, near Nablus, Wednesday, were questioned Friday morning by the Police Investigation Unit in Tel Aviv.



Two of them are suspected of excessive use of force. Sources involved in the investigation said that the suspects admitted to the act.

On Thursday, Border Guard chief Hassein Fares ordered that the three policemen be suspended. The Police Investigation Unit has also contacted the Palestinian teen, Hindawi Qawarik, who was allegedly abused by the officers and will summon him to give his testimony soon.

According to Qawarik, the policemen detained him and his friends after they were leaving school, and then "two of the policemen started hitting me in the legs with a rifle, punching me, slamming my head against the door of a nearby container, pushing me to the floor and hitting me in the head."

Officers may face jail time
Hassein said Thursday, in response to the incident, "I view such behavior as extremely severe. The matter will be probed by the Police Investigation Unit.

"Border Guard fighters work to protect the citizens of Israel and are responsible for thwarting hostile terrorist acts, while dealing with numerous acts of violence carried out against them," he added.

The head of the team investigating the incident, Avi Peretz, said that the investigation would not take long as the evidence was solid and "one picture is worth a thousand words."

Peretz estimated that the investigation would last a week or two and hat its findings would then be handed over to the State Prosecutor's Office.

"We still have to listen to the suspects' version. In similar cases in the past, soldiers were tried and even went to jail," he said.

Ali Waked contributed to the report