Violation: bringing down a water cistern
Date: 20/01/2015
Location: Halhul / Hebron governorate
Perpetrators: Israel Civil Administration and army
Victims: citizen As'ad jabari
Details:
Israeli occupation authorities on January 01, 2015 demolished a water cistern belonging to citizen As'ad Jabari in the area of al-Camp, Halhul area.
Jabari asserted that a force from Israel army accompanied by a staff from the Civil Administration and a bulldozer came to the place at noon and embarked on demolishing the cistern; the dozer ravaged a plot nearby the cistern and used the dirt to dump it .
Photo 1: signs of the demolition
It should be marked that the cistern's volume is 540m3 and that it was full of water at time of demolition. Jabari used the cistern's water for drinking and for irrigating plants and trees in his plot. Being located atop of a hill where the water providing network does not reach, Jabri had to have the cistern. Jabri said that the cistern was built in 1999 and that the demolition was carried out without and previous orders or notifications by Israel.
Land Research Center LRC sees that demolitions contradict with and violate all of the International conventions and Humanitarian laws including:
- Article 17 of the (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating: “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”
- Section ‹G› of article 23 of the (1907) The Hague Conventions asserting: “In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden to destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.”
- Article 53 of the Geneva Fourth Convention (1948) declaring: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.”
- Section 1, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966): “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent."
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