הוועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) that filed the petition against the assassinations policy of the State of Israel in January, 2002, regrets that that the ruling of the panel of High Court of Justice justices headed by former Chief Justice, Aharon Barak, did not outline a clear set of criteria that permit or forbid “targeted assassinations”, or extrajudicial executions, in a way that would prevent the killing of innocent civilians.

A number of legal codes apply simultaneously to Israeli military activity in the OPT, each of which places rights and duties on Israeli soldiers, commanders and the policymakers who deploy them: Israeli criminal law, international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

The article was published in "Haaretz" newspaper - 31.12.06

This petition is concerned with an official policy adopted by the goverment of Israel at the outset of the El Aqsa Intifada, whose main plank is the execution of wanted Palestinian individuals who are suspected of initiating, planning, and carrying out acts of terror against citizens of the state of Israel.

The Government of Israel employs a policy of preventative strikes which cause the death of terrorists in Judea, Samaria, or the Gaza Strip. It fatally strikes these terrorists, who plan, launch, or commit terrorist attacks in Israel and in the area of Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip, against both civilians and soldiers. These strikes at times also harm innocent civilians. Does the State thus act illegally? That is the question posed before us.