The mother of the autistic Palestinian youth, Iyad Hallaq, who was shot and killed by Israeli police in Jerusalem on May 30, told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) yesterday in an oral statement jointly-delivered by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor that she fears Israel’s unfairness, after Israeli forces killed her only son despite being defenseless, with special needs, and without posing any threat to the forces.
Rana Hallaq, Iyad’s mother, explained that even though it has been two weeks since her son was killed, no progress has been made in the investigation of his case, while Israel refuses to publish footage of her son’s last minutes before his death, noting that this is “an evidence of the clear intention to hide this brutality. Calling “everyone” to not overlook the incident, she said, “don’t forget my son, anyone could be the next victim.”
The Hallaq message was delivered in an oral statement by Euro-Med Monitor and the International Institute for Rights and Development (IRDG) and the Geneva Council for Rights and Liberties during the 43rd UN Human Rights Council Session held in Geneva.
The joint statement expressed grave concern over the series of extrajudicial executions carried out by the Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians.
In last May only, the Israeli forces shot dead two young Palestinians with special needs. The first of whom was Mustafa Younis, 27, who suffered from psychological problems, and was shot dead on the 13th of May, after having an argument with Israeli security forces at the entrance of a hospital in the city of Tel Aviv, and the second was Iyad Hallaq, 32, who was killed on the 30th of May, while on his way to Elwyn School in Jerusalem for students with special needs.
Israeli police force chased Iyad and despite the presence of his school counselor who alerted the police that the young man had autism, and showed them a card to prove this, the soldiers did not respond to her pleas and shot him in the leg, which caused him to fall down to the ground. Later, they shot him with two more live bullets in the upper part of his body killing him.
The joint statement emphasized that Israel has neither identified nor held accountable those responsible for committing criminal offences, nor has it imposed strict laws to prevent similar incidents in the future.
