Return to Index
Page
See other articles on this
poisoning incident:
April 6, 2005
April 12, 2005
Monday
April 25, 2005
A Palestinian
walks his sheep next to the Israeli-constructed separation
barrier that divides in two the West Bank town of Abu Dis.
Amnesty International accused Israel of failing to prosecute
Jewish settlers for attacking Palestinian locals and poisoning
their livestock, the international rights group said. AFP/Gali
Tibbon |
|
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050425/323/fh8c8.html
April 25, 2005
Amnesty calls on Israel to halt poisoning
of Palestinian livestock
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Amnesty International accused Israel of failing
to prosecute Jewish settlers for attacking Palestinian locals and
poisoning their livestock, the international rights group said.
Condemning the "increasingly frequent attacks" against
Palestinian villagers, Amnesty urged the Israeli government to investigate
all violent incidents, and in particular, the recent spate of cases
of poisoning fields that has affected scores of Palestinian livestock.
"In recent weeks, toxic chemicals have repeatedly been spread
on fields located near the villages of Tuwani, Umm Faggara and Kharruba
in the southern Hebron region," the group said in a statement,
referring to areas in the southern West Bank.
"Scores of sheep as well as gazelles and other animals have
been contaminated by the toxins and several have died. Palestinian
farmers have been forced to quarantine their flocks and stop using
the milk, cheese and meat from them, effectively depriving them
of their livelihood."
Since the first instance of poisoning was discovered in late March,
other fields had also been contaminated, all of them in areas under
Israeli security control, known as area C, the rights group said.
Until now, however, the Israeli authorities had not decontaminated
the fields, nor had they investigated the perpetrators, who were
enjoying "impunity", the group said.
Contacted by AFP for a response, West Bank police spokesman Shlomi
Sagi confirmed that despite a month-long investigation into the
initial instance of poisoning, no arrests had yet been made.
"The investigation is ongoing and we are gathering intelligence,"
he said.
Earlier this month, Mohammed Qanam, head of the Palestinian agriculture
ministry in Hebron, said 82 cattle had been poisoned, 20 of which
had died after eating poisoned fodder in pastures in the southern
West Bank.
Tests carried out by the environmental health centre at Beir Zeit
university in the central West Bank showed the poison was a highly
toxic substance called fluoroacetamide.
Fluoroacetamide, which was first used as a form of rat poison and
has no known antidote, is classified as a dangerous pesticide.
|