US Urged to Pass Bill to Investigate the Murder of Journalist Abu Akleh
Washington, MINA – Dozens of rights groups in the United States (US) are urging Congress to pass a bill mandating a US investigation into the murder of Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed in May last year by Israeli forces while served in the Jenin refugee camp.
In a letter sent to members of Congress, more than 60 US rights organizations have updated their calls for members of Congress to support the Justice for the Shireen Act (H.R. 3477).
As quoted from Wafa on Thursday, the bill, introduced by Congressman Andre Carson, will require the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of State to publicly report on the circumstances surrounding the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.
The letter was signed by the Friends Committee on National Legislation, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). US Campaign for Palestinian Human Rights, Amnesty International USA, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), If Not Now, Defense of Children International – Palestine (DCIP), Oxfam America, Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), Arab American Institute, Human Rights Watch, Win Without War, and the Center for Civilians In Conflict (CIVIC), and dozens of other US rights groups.
“More than a year ago, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while reporting on the Israeli military invasion of a refugee camp in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. This was widely accepted by many media and human rights institutions, based on testimony available witnesses and forensic video and audio analysis, that Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by an Israeli soldier. We mourn the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and renew our call for justice and accountability for her death,” the letter said.
“We, the undersigned organization, are asking Congress and the Biden administration to support Representative Andre Carson’s Judiciary Act for the Shireen Act to require necessary reporting to Congress by the Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an effort to address all questions that arise. unanswered,
Several prominent media outlets, including Al Jazeera, CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times, as well as the UN Human Rights Office have conducted an extensive investigation into the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, using a variety of sources, including witness testimony, outside experts and visual evidence. They all reached the same conclusion: there was no gunfire from Palestinian militants in the area and there is overwhelming evidence that an Israeli soldier was responsible for his death,” they explained in the letter.
Previously, more than 100 members of the US Congress made a statement or signed a letter calling for a thorough investigation into the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh.
President Joe Biden even Called for a “full and transparent accounting” of Abu Akleh’s death while he was in the region last year.
The killing of Shireen Abu Akleh is part of a systemic pattern of violations of human rights against Palestinians and freedom of the press by the Israeli military. For more than two decades, the Committee to Protect Journalists has recorded at least 20 incidents where journalists were killed by the Israeli military. Despite numerous internal investigations by the Israeli military, no one has been prosecuted or held accountable for these killings.
“We ask Congress to pass Representative Carson’s Justice Bill for Shireen to require necessary reporting on the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh and urge Congress and the Biden administration to take immediate steps to ensure that US military funding to the government of Israel does not support human rights abuses against Palestinians. ,” said the letter. (T/RE1/P2)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
