Defense says video supports officer in `verifying kill' case / Amos Harel
7/3/2005
Defense attorneys for Capt. R. - the Givati company commander accused of "verifying the kill" of a 13-year-old girl in Rafah - yesterday claimed in court that when the incident took place, another Palestinian was in the vicinity, thereby strengthening their client's claim that the girl was a decoy.
The matter was discussed during the cross-examination of a Military Police investigator, who was testifying on behalf of the prosecution. Attorneys Yoav Menny and Elad Eisenberg showed a videotape that was shot from the military outpost's observation point during the incident, and pointed out a blurred figure in the tape, which they said was not the girl.
The defense attorneys said that according to their examinations of the tape, this figure was another Palestinian, who was about 50 meters away from where the girl was killed. They stated that while the girl was moving southeast, away from the soldiers, the figure was moving southwest.
The captain claims that armed Palestinians must have sent the girl as a decoy meant to distract the soldiers in the outpost on the Philadelphi corridor, which the Israel Defense Forces has long ruled out-of-bounds to Palestinians; the girl had walked into the area. The officer also argues that when he fired at the girl a second time, he didn't shoot directly at her, but rather nearby, to deter terrorists whom he thought might be in the area.
R.'s lawyers said the existence of the blurred figure proved their client behaved properly throughout the entire incident and that his judgment in the matter was sound.
Prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel (res.) Ronen Katzaf said, however, that it was impossible to tell from the videotape whether the blurred figure was the girl or another person.
Meanwhile, members of Breaking the Silence, a group of reservists trying to educate the public about how soldiers end up abusing their power in the territories, demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Ground Forces Command, where the trial is taking place. They said they were not defending R., but stated that they think the trial is not focusing on the important issues - the rules of engagement in the territories, which often lead to the death of innocents from IDF fire. One of their placards read "I also verified kills."
